Artists

Nadia Markiewicz

Press release

The exhibition is the culmination of the last two years of work by Nadia Markiewicz, particularly in the area of performance art. Her interest in this medium arose naturally from her examination of the intersection between disability and entertainment. Thus the central element of the exhibition is a reference to the circus magic show. For the artist, it is a metaphor for her own experience, as a person missing her left forearm who for many years wore a prosthesis, thus creating an illusion of wholeness for the gaze of others. The artist presents a stage-like array of props and costumes accompanying her performances. In them she impersonates for example a dove from a magic show whose wings are clipped so it cannot fly far off after being pulled out of a hat. She can also be a rose, finding in the mutations occurring in nature an analogy for her own unusual body. Or a deck of cards, whose choreography of concealing and revealing alludes to her own experience with hiding her disability. Markiewicz is interested in creating a new image of disability which alludes to such notions as mystery and rarity, i.e. the misterioso in the title. Paradoxically this category once existed in circus freak shows in the 19th century, before they were banned and disability was shifted to the medical context, with a dominant approach of pity and external control over unusual bodies. It is essential for the artist now that she herself has the opportunity to create a representation of her own experience. For her this is a liberating and radical act. Nadia Markiewicz Visual artist, performer, and creator of spatial installations and video works based in Warsaw. She examines disability from an autobiographical perspective, seeking metaphors in the surreal potential of entertainment and mass visual culture. PhD fellow at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. Resident of the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York City (2023). Recipient of the Europe Beyond Access award granted by Zachęta National Gallery of Art and the British Council (2021), and winner of the Grand Prix at the 10th Rybie Oko Young Art Biennial (2022). She holds an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Her work has been shown, among others, at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Kunsthalle Bratislava, and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.