The Foundation Prize

This year, the jury of the ING Polish Art Foundation Award awarded during Warsaw Gallery Weekend, decided to grant two Main Prizes. The first Main Prize was presented to Veronika Hapchenko for her exhibition Interloper at the Import/Export gallery. The second Main Prize went to Marta Niedbał and Paweł Olszczyński for their exhibition Hold Me Closer at HOS Gallery.

In her latest works, Veronika Hapchenko takes the viewer on a journey between the past and the future, confronting the horrors of humanity and bringing hope. Paraphrasing the monumental mosaics of Ivan Litovchenko, she creates a modern dimension of the Soviet heritage. In her research-driven practice, Hapchenko fuses the myths of the USSR with the ancient goddess Demether, including philosophical literature and esoteric practice.

Veronika Hapchenko, demeter, after Ivan Lytovchenko, acrylic and ink on canvas, 2023

 

The cooperation of Marta Niedbał and Pawel Olszczynski is not limited to a joint presentation, but is primarily fulfilled in the co-created works. Dissolving/Dissolving - shows how by combining and interpenetrating the forms, techniques and motifs characteristic of each, a new quality is created, with which each of the artists but also each/each of us viewers - can identify. The fabric-assemblages, in which folklore inspirations appear, with all their haptics and sensuality, also point to the importance and essence of "craft" in the digital age, in which corporeality remains important although sometimes the body seems to be absent and gender boundaries blurred.

Marta Niedbał and Paweł Olszczyński, Dissolving, wool, cotton, silk on dyed jute, wood, 170 x 190 cm, 2023

 

The Foundation's Special Award goes to Turnus.

Turnus is a meeting place, a place of exchange, a place characterized by openness. Turnus is an experimental and daring community platform seeking dialogue. It is a place which is at the same time a galleria, a café and a cinema, and thanks to this it brings together different social groups. Finally, Turnus in its open formula gives visibility and democratic access to the art scene. Turnus is a safe space in the best sense of the word, which at the same time impresses with its optimism and directness.

 

Fot. Ewa Szatybełko/ Turnus

The Foundation Prize is awarded by a five-member jury with fixed roles: a foreign curator invited to explore the Polish art scene; a private art collector; the president of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (TZSP), and two members from the Foundation's board.

This year the members are:

• Jana Baumann, senior curator of Haus der Kunst in Munich
• collector Monika Brodka
• Hanna Wróblewska, president of TZSP
• Kamila Bondar and Marcin Kryszeń from the Foundation's board.