Artist Residency: Draughtsman’s Contract – Karolina Bielawska

In August 1694 Mrs. Herbert and a draughtsman named Mr. Neville, the characters of Peter Greenway’s film, signed a contract that included the following conditions: ‘Mr. Neville’s service as draughtsman for twelve days, for the manufacture of 12 drawings of the estate and gardens, parks and outlying buildings of Mr. Herbert’s Property. The sites of the twelve drawings to be chosen at his discretion, though advised by Mrs. Herbert (…)”.
 
Arsenal Gallery is located in the city centre of Białystok (Poland), in a historic building of the Branicki Palace. Between 1691 and 1697 the Branicki Palace was reconstructed into a baroque mansion by Tylman Gamerski. Theoretically the Draughtsman’s Contract by Greenaway could happen exactly here. In relation to the famous work of the British director and the context of the place, the Arsenal Galllery has invited three artists to create an artwork/art project, where the Branicki Palace will be the main object of interest, the closest neighbourhood of the Arsenal Gallery.

KAROLINA BIELAWSKA

born in 1986
2015-2010 Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
2011-2006 University of Warsaw

A visual artist, works with painting, drawing and installation. Graduate of the Faculty of Media Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 2015 she was awarded an MA in The Painting’s Space Studio of Leon Tarasewicz. Her diploma was selected for the exhibitions „Coming Out – Best Degree Pieces Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw” (2015) and „Hosted Simply” exhibited in Spectrum Tower in Warsaw (2015) and Heiligienkreuzerhof in Vienna (2016). Participant of the first edition of Biennale de La Biche (2017) – the smallest contemporary art biennale in the world. In 2016, together with the Romanian curator, Larisa Crunṭeanu, she completed international audiovisual project, The Telenational Dream, presented at Iluzjon Cinema in Warsaw. Between 2012-2016 she was assistant curator in Zachęta Project Room. Recipient of The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship (2017). She lives and works in Warsaw, Poland.

solo exhibitions:
2016
Mirage, Spectra Art Space, Warsaw
Later and Slightly Earlier, Pawilon Sztuki, Warsaw

selected group exhibitions:
2017
Megalith. Karolina Bielawska, Zuza Golińska, Zachęta Project Room, Warsaw
À la Flamande 2 – Portrait, Propaganda Gallery, Warsaw
The Simultaneity Of Events, Centre Of Contemporary Art in Toruń, Toruń
Biennale de La Biche, Grand cul de sac marin, Guadeloupe
2016
Art Full Stop, bus stops in public space, City Art Gallery of Kalisz, Kalisz
Empty, City Art Gallery of Kalisz, Kalisz
À la Flamande 1 – Still Life, Propaganda Gallery, Warsaw
Among Faces, Państwowa Galeria Sztuki, Sopot
Hosted Simply, Heiligienkreuzerhof, Vienna
2015
Coming Out – Best Degree Pieces Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw 2015, Kamienica hrabiego Raczyńskiego, Warsaw
Hosted Simply, Spektrum Tower, Warsaw
Homo homini, Galeria Sektor I, Jaworzno
Goosebumps, former Dom Słowa Polskiego, Warsaw
Mimicry, State Ethnographic Museum, Warsaw
2014
Lesson, Zachęta Project Room, Warsaw
Sto*Disegnado/Drawing, V9 Gallery, Warsaw
World-view, Pałac Branickich, Warsaw
Open Air With Miłosz, Spokojna Gallery, Warsaw