Pola Dwurnik • 2012 • MOCAK – Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, Poland
Behold a collective self-portrait of female anger. Anger under the pretext of other emotions and facial expressions, anger concealed in a plurality of faces. Mass hysteria expressed by one individual. The artist paints herself, her own self, her anger. At last! Beyond the grasp of the ubiquitous male gaze. Asked about her work, Dwurnik responded: “Empathy instead of mercy. I ridicule pleading for mercy in my self-portrait”. The artist’s multiplied self-portrait doesn’t ask us for sympathy, it demands of us a commonality of feeling.
A closer look at these faces triggers reminiscences of the recent Women’s Strike in Poland. Dwurnik’s portrait is also a protest against censure – against censoring anger. Alive and creative. See for yourselves how wisely and beautifully these women are throwing a hissy fit. Taking it to the streets, they intend to reclaim their hysteria and their voice. Pola Dwurnik takes it to the streets, divided into 24 faces like the 24 books of the Iliad and of the Odyssey. I admit this is my best-loved exhibit of anger from this roomful of emotions.
