22 July – 27 August 2023
Ancien Cinema
23 Grand Rue
L-9410 Vianden
Luxembourg

From the press release:

In an interview with David Sylvester in 1990, Francis Bacon said that “art is an obsession with life and after all, as we are human beings, our greatest obsession is with ourselves.”

The title of the exhibition refers both to the size of the paintings and to the subject. The works presented at Ancien Cinema reveal the artist’s obsession with the human body and bodily instincts which both express and facilitate the emotional and cognitive evolution that happens continuously in one’s life. In her painting, Malwina Chabocka draws from the experience of physical theatre and performance, where the body expresses a story in itself.

The artist’s technique has evolved from more illustrative paintings into semi-realistic compositions where flat areas of colour are juxtaposed with loose brushstrokes, expressive daubs od paint and bold contours. Making use of a palette dominated by cool hues, she produces paintings that create an atmosphere of perplexity and mystery.

Many of her works depict figures in isolation, and in those with a couple or more people, the bodies are often intertwined and overlapping; there is tension and a sense of uneasiness. The artist is fascinated by everything that causes this tension: hidden desires, repressed feelings, haunting memories, shame, pain and longing; passions and needs which escape socially accepted norms and fight for their reason to exist. Through the medium of paint, Malwina Chabocka summons all those secret inner tales onto her canvas, inviting the viewer to feel as well as view them through the filter of personal experience and imagination.

This project is organized with the financial support of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Luxembourg.