The subject of persecutions and holocaust of Jews during the World War II is visibly present in the creative activity by Zofia Lipecka, from the time she read the book by Jan T. Gross Sąsiedzi (The Neighbours).
A relation published as an underground print in 1944, created by Jankiel Wiernik – a prisoner of the extermination camp in Treblinka II, is the next important item, which influenced the creative activity by Zofia Lipecka, among others the exhibition in Atlas Sztuki. In our exhibition space, we present two projects by the artist: Treblinka Project and Warsaw – Malkinia.
Zofia Lipecka, since 2004, has been travelling to Treblinka, where she photographed her arrival to the town and the board with its name. On the basis of a photography the artist painted a picture with the following dimensions: 130 x 195 cm. In spite of the fact that in 2012 the informative board with the name Treblinka on it was moved several hundred metres away, Zofia Lipecka still photographs and paints the very same place. In Atlas Sztuki we showed nine pictures from the cycle Project Treblinka created in 2004-2012.
We will also present a video installation consisting of four ten-minutes long films, displayed in loop on four walls. The video was recorded by the artist on 23rd August 2010, on the anniversary of the deportation of Jankiel Wiernik to the Treblinka extermination camp. In slow motion and cold tone, we travel by train from Warsaw to Malkinia – currently the nearest train stop before Treblinka (In the period of existence of Treblinka extermination camp, there existed a provisional railway station in the very Treblinka village). In the background one can hear the read extract of the Jankiel Wiernik’s testimony.
To the collaboration in creating a catalogue from the Zofia Lipecka’s exhibition, we invited outstanding critics and connoisseurs of art after the holocaust: Izabela Kowalczyk, Andrzej Turowski and Piotr Kosiewski. I hope that their essays will let you understand better, what kind of challenges the art created by Shoah has. I highly recommend to you the both essays concerning the creative activity by Zofia Lipecka and the conversation with the artist. I also encourage you to read the text written by the artist herself.
Tam spadla nam zaslona z oczu (On arriving there did the horrible truth dawn on us) by Zofia Lipecka is an extraordinary exhibition. The artist’s project has many dimensions, generates many questions, to which, despite the passage of years, the answers are not always straightforward.