In her practice Dorota Podlaska deals with topics related to her personal life, emotions and human relationships. She works in figurative painting, within which she has developed her own characteristic style the critics frequently refer to as “private painting”. Depending on the topic, Podlaska uses other media that serve the purpose of meeting:
I do not address my art to broad crowds – she says – I want to tell stories and listen to them. The addressee of my work is not an abstract audience, but a specific interlocutor. I have done many projects in collaboration with others.
The exhibition at TRAFO features the premiere of watercolors from the series In my next life I want to be a b-boy (2023), full of K-pop flair and nonchalance (provided musical references can be conveyed in writing about painting). Dorota Podlaska also shows Diary of Plague (2020) – a work full of narrative phrases, characterized by pleasant irony, in which she reflects on the state of tension during the relatively recent, but seemingly forgotten Covid-19 pandemic.
The show is complemented by previous series of paintings. In Splinter (2018-19) Podlaska refers to her past in Africa in the 1980s, revising her own biography, mythologizing family relationships and adding a universal dimension to them. Everyday is Christmas (2013) is based around conversations with Düsseldorf-based emigrants with whom Podlaska discussed Christmas tradition in various countries and personal experiences of the holiday celebrations.
Dorota Podlaska (born 1966) – Polish visual artist. Graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. During her studies, she was associated with the artistic groups Naprzód (Forward) and Yach-Film. She was involved in video art and happenings. In the years 1993–2003, she created The Water Tower in Bydgoszcz, an initiative of the association operating under the same name. Podlaska has exhibited her works with a number of galleries, including: Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Galeria Arsenał in Białystok. She participated in residency programs in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Japan, among others. She lives in Portugal.