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Esoteric, alchemical and spiritual themes in the art of Janina Kraupe-Swiderska.
Janina Kraupe-Swiderska was born on January 27, 1921 in Sosnowiec. She began her studies in 1938 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. In 1940-1941 she continued her studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Cracow. Also during the war years, she participated in Tadeusz Kantor's underground theater, where she played the role of the mysterious Goplana in the play “Balladyna.” The turning point in the biography of Janina Kraupe-Swiderska, was the death of her beloved father. This event pushed her to read books on spirituality, esotericism, but also spiritualism.
Janina Kraupe-Swiderska's art is filled with esotericism, alchemy, tarot symbolism, or secret knowledge in the broadest sense. We can find images of mysterious, spiritual “Guardians”, but also “Auras” or horoscopes plotted by her. Paintings created by Kraupe-Swiderska are characterized by extremely thoughtful compositions. Here every element, every detail has its place and taking it away makes the painting tell a completely different story from the initial one. Kraupe-Świderska's work is also a very personal, intuitive creation, as a large part of her works were created as a result of automatic recording, where the artist, listening to herself, spontaneously applied successive elements of the painting to the canvas.
Janina Kraupe-Swiderska was born on January 27, 1921 in Sosnowiec, Poland. She began her studies in 1938 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. In 1940-1941 she continued her studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Cracow. Also during the war years, she participated in Tadeusz Kantor's underground theater. After the end of the war, she resumed her education at the Krakow academy, studying painting and printmaking. In her work, the artist explored themes related to alchemy, esotericism, theosophy, but also spirituality in the broadest sense. Today, her works are in many public and private collections.
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Marta Kudelska
Curator, art critic graduate of cultural studies/contemporary culture (in critical theory of contemporary culture) and art history at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. In 2024, she received her PhD in the discipline of art sciences on the basis of a dissertation on the strategies and practices of young art curators from Katowice and Krakow (awarded dissertation).
In her curatorial and research practice, she is interested in issues related primarily to the relationship of contemporary art with the Romantic tradition (artists' interest in magical, horror and esoteric themes), the strategies and practices of art curators, young art, but also reflections around art institutions and the activities of independent art initiatives.
She has carried out her curatorial projects at the Polish Institute in Dusseldorf, the Kronika Center for Contemporary Art in Bytom, the State Art Gallery in Sopot, Art. Agenda Nova in Krakow, during the ArtBoom Festival, Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Slupsk, Gallery Two Left Hands in Katowice, Widna in Krakow, but also collaborated with institutions such as Foksal Gallery Foundation in Warsaw, lokal_30, BWA Gallery of Contemporary Art in Katowice, Silesian Museum, Warsaw Gallery Weekend. She regularly publishes her texts in Szum Magazine, Contemporary Lynx, and has collaborated with Obieg, art.Paper, Art.&Businnes, Pavilionesque or Elements.
From 2013 to 2014, she was associated with the Museum in Gliwice and the Art Reading Room operating there. From 2014 to 2017, she served as a spokeswoman at the Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery. She was also in charge of education at the Krakow Museum from 2017 to 2020, and works with the Museum of Photography in Krakow. She is also deputy editor-in-chief at the academic journal “Management in Culture.” She works in the Department of Contemporary Culture at the Institute of Culture at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.