Alina Szapocznikow: Body Traces
Alina Szapocznikow’s art showcased in Tel Aviv
Sixty-five sculptures and drawings by Alina Szapocznikow, one of the most original 20th century Polish artists, are on display in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The exhibition Body Traces will run through May. It was organised together by the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Polish Institute in Tel Aviv and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.
The works, presented in Israel since February, are on loan from the collection of the artist’s son Piotr Stanisławski, major Polish museums and private collectors. Body Traces shows the most important moments in Szapocznikow’s artistic career and presents a wide spectrum of works by this pioneer of women’s art, who, despite her premature death at age 47, left unique, provocative works, often casts of her body parts that evoke Surrealism, Nouveau Réalisme, and Pop art.
“Though Alina Szapocznikow’s career didn’t last long, the artist left behind a legacy of radical, or outright revolutionary works that embodied the traumatic biography of the artist –imprisonment in concentration camps and her terminal disease. At the same time, they reflected the aesthetics of Surrealism Nouveau Réalisme, and Pop art,” saysAhuva Israel, the curator of the exhibition in Israel.
In cooperation with the Polish Institute, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art prepared a special bilingual (English – Hebrew) picture book accompanying the exhibition.
Body Traces will be accompanied by a special event comprising the dance performance “See Her Change” by the well-known Israeli choreographer and dancer Yasmeen Godder and a seminar with the participation of Ahuva Israel, Lior Avizoor and Anda Rottenberg.