Teresa Gierzyńska's first major solo exhibition at Zachęta explores female identity and domestic confinement

Teresa Gierzyńska's first major solo exhibition 'Women Live for Love' runs at Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw from December 9 to March 6. The show presents photographic works created over decades, primarily from her autobiographical series 'About Her' begun after graduating from Warsaw's Academy of Fine Arts in 1971. Gierzyńska developed her practice in domestic spaces while married to painter Edward Dwurnik for 37 years, producing works that interrogate boundaries between body and environment. Key photographs include 'Dwurnik's' (1980), where a hand writes her husband's name on her sun-scorched back, and 'Vulgar' (1981), featuring tinted hair recalling Poland's national colors. The exhibition also includes transfer prints from 'The Essence of Things' and 1970s collages from German women's magazines in the 'Notepad' series. Curator Joanna Kordjak organized the display across three grand rooms, creating an airy presentation that contrasts with the works' origins in confined spaces. Concurrently, Warsaw's Gunia Nowik Gallery exhibits additional works including 'In the Window' (1984) and rural scenes from 1984-1993 titled 'Thaws, Muck and Wind'. This marks one of the final exhibitions under director Hanna Wróblewska before anticipated leadership changes by Poland's nationalist-populist government.