The Dark Arts: Aleksandra Waliszewska and the Symbolism from the East and North

Ordinary figures such as cats, fairies, mermaids and medieval maidens take on new forms in Waliszewska’s works. Cats smoke cigarettes and perform bloody rituals, women – in some works are depicted as vampires, cannibals and murderers, but they are not are not created to satisfy the whims of men. She also incorporates nature into her paintings, such as forests and swamps, though here they do not resemble landscapes filled with peace. In Waliszewska’s work, swamps and forests are an extraordinary space full of tension and mystery, inhabited by supernatural bestiaries and shaken by conflict between life and death. Waliszewska’s main source for exploring the world of the living dead is the Slavic upiór story of the vampire. The visual material, ranging from medieval manuscripts to nineteenth-century Polish, Czech and Baltic Symbolist works depicting the dark figure of the upiór, have provided exhibition “The Dark Arts” the opportunity to further enrich this cultural phenomenon by bringing it into the 21st century perception.