Aleksandra Waliszewska, photo: Jacek Łagowski
The young painter from Warsaw has been honoured with the top prize from the Spanish Association of Art Critics (AECA) as the creator of the best work or series by a living foreign artist
Aleksandra Waliszewska's work was presented at Arco Madrid, the major art fair in Spain, as part of a joint exhibition by Warsaw-based galleries Leto and Lokal_30. In a press release, art fair organizers remarked on how critics have recognised Waliszewska for her "strange, highly imaginative, informal figures that refer to the late Gothic aesthetic".
Waliszewska is a painter who splays abandoned waifs and feral beasts across her canvases, creating a new gothic style. Represented by the Leto Gallery, she is part of a group of promising Polish artists born in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Leto showcase explores of how language and literature - stories, fables - have impacted contemporary art, particularly with respect to conceptual art.
While Waliszewska won the Grand Prix for the best work presented by a contemporary foreign artist, Cristina Iglesias (born in 1956 in San Sebastián) won the prize for best presentation by a Spanish artist. Iglesias is represented by the Elba Benítez Gallery.
The Lokal_30 gallery presented a range of art across generations at Arco Madrid, including Natalia LL's 1974 series Consumer Art, which was singled out by Arco as second in the top 10 best presentations at this year's fair.
See the top 10 selection at Arco Madrid
Arco Madrid is a major international art event with more than 200 galleries in attendance from 27 countries. The International Contemporary Art Fair is organised by IFEMA, which for the last 32 years has made the Spanish capital a significant hub attracting collectors, gallerists, artists and art professionals from all over the world. This year Turkey is a special guest, and the fair includes a focus on the international art scene, the youngest generations of artists and new platforms for promoting art.
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: natemat.pl, www.elconfidencial.com, www.ifema.es