Anna MARCINIAK (b. 1984), A 2-Day History of a Fence Mesh. An Illustration of the Theory of Time, 2013

oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, signed lower right: AM

Born in Warsaw in 1984. She is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She studied in the departments of painting (studio of Prof. Jarosław Modzelewski) and graphic arts (illustration studio of Prof. Zygmunt Januszewski). She has received two scholarships from the Ministry of Culture. Her work focuses primarily on oil painting, book illustration, and short prose pieces. She regularly participates in group and solo exhibitions. She also takes part in art fairs. My works are held in private collections in Poland, the Balkans, Italy, Portugal, and the United States, among other places.

A theme that is particularly central to her work is time. The concept of the linearity of time was already debunked at the beginning of the last century by Albert Einstein. In painting, this insight provides a framework for illustrating events that exist in the same space, in the same place, and overlap one another like layers of tracing paper. For many years, she avoided including people in her compositions. For the image of a human being is always distracting. Her “actors” at that time were therefore simple objects, plants, and tools. The works from that period, in their simplicity, came close to abstraction, though they were never quite abstract.

It is only in recent years that people and animals have also begun to appear in her new works. Here, the concept of time reveals itself in a slightly different context.
The “Disappearance” series, which the artist has been continuing since 2020, originated from business trips during which she sought out abandoned houses, tenement buildings, and structures in small and medium-sized towns in Poland and the Balkans. She then sought to uncover the histories of these places using archival materials available online and/or in libraries. Sometimes, locals—intrigued by the presence of a stranger with a camera among the ruins—would provide information entirely by chance. *Disappearance* is a painterly narrative about a world slipping into oblivion. These paintings are an attempt to capture places, situations, and people who, for one reason or another, have “fallen into disuse.” The houses the artist paints are both physical and symbolic entities. It is to them that one returns in memory after many years spent far away. It is they that appear behind one’s eyelids in moments of doubt and resignation. A building, even though it physically decays, disappears only in the material sense. Its destruction is not complete. For the house endures in the memories of those who once lived there. It is they who hold in their consciousness memories of happiness and moments spent together within its walls. For them, this crumbling building holds important dates, celebrations, but also moments of sadness and doubt. As an artist, she also asks whether, in a world of comfort and the weaving of cozy cocoons, it is worth preserving things that are so fleeting and often uncomfortable.

Selected exhibitions and publications:

2026 – International Art Review – Alternatives 33 in Ostrów Wielkopolski.

2024 – Solo exhibition “Disappearance II” – 81 Stopni Gallery in Warsaw.

2023 – Solo exhibition “Disappearance” – TU i ÓWDZIE in Kraków.

2022 – Solo exhibition “Puzzle of Memories II” – Gaude Mater Gallery in Częstochowa.

2022 – Finalist in the 1st K. Grzesiak National Painting Competition in Lębork.

2022 – 12th Triennial of Small-Scale Paintings – Wozownia Gallery / Toruń.

2022 – Night of Museums in Jazdów / Art in the Bushes Exhibition / Warsaw.

2022 – Puzzles of Memories – Dzwonnica Kultury Gallery / Kazimierz Dolny.

2021 – Bruxelles Art Vue – Featured in the publication *Power of Color 2021*.

2021 – 6 Piętro Theater in Warsaw – Pre-Auction Exhibition.

2021 – Post-competition exhibition “Portrait of Ksawery” – Ksawery Konopacki Palace in Warsaw.

2017 – Publication of the book “Challenges for Warsaw – Housing for Seniors” featuring original illustrations. Go Silver Foundation.

2016 – Post-workshop exhibition – Municipal Art Gallery – Sozopol, Bulgaria.

2014 – Post-workshop exhibition – Municipal Art Gallery – Sozopol, Bulgaria.

2012 – Group exhibition “Ericsson Communication Warsaw” at the Ericsson Gallery in Warsaw.

2010 – “Paintings” Exhibition / with Agnieszka Kwiatkowska / – Central Art Pool in Warsaw.

2009 – Group exhibition “Direction: Praga” – Conference Gallery, Warsaw.

2006 – Creation of the original mural “Dogs Must Be Kept on a Leash” / with Michał Frydrych / Warsaw’s Praga district.

2005 – Exhibition “Net in the Desert” / with Viktor Dyndo / – Winter Garden Gallery, Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw.

2005 – Exhibition “Dłużew at the Studio” – Studio Theater, Warsaw.

2005 – Polish-French group painting exhibition “Orléans” – City of Orléans