For Paris Internationale 2024, Gunia Nowik Gallery is pleased to show a duo-presentation of works by German sculptress Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg (born 1987) and Polish painter Agata Bogacka (born 1976). The generational difference creates a dialogue: Bogacka – one of the most established painters working in Poland today and Dunkelberg – a young emerging sculptor working in Berlin.
Bogacka’s work is characterized by competing planes of color in a state of transition, creating formal imbalances and tensions. The gradient she uses symbolizes blurring and setting boundaries, while directly referencing the complex relations existing between people and can be understood more broadly, on the political and societal levels, speaking to these overwhelmingly patriarchal systems and institutions, developed by, and benefiting men.
Dunkelberg appropriates male production methods, welding and forging steel, aluminum, and plastic herself. This playful yet significant shift expands women’s presence in traditionally male spheres and enables her to create objects blurring distinctions between handcrafted and machine-made, 2D and 3D, painting and sculpture. Further, her ongoing Art Cars series humorously reinterprets male-dominated history by painting toy cars in the style of female artists, offering an ironic, feminist narrative.
Agata Bogacka
Painter, born in 1976 in Warsaw. After she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2001, she quickly became known for her highly stylized, synthetic, figurative paintings – “a painterly diary of mental states” in which she noted down emotions and feelings she had for her near and dear ones. Over time, her paintings evolved and direct references to reality or fragments of reality became increasingly abstract. Her most recent works are based on configuration of planes with the use of tonal transition. The gradient she uses symbolizes blurring and setting the boundaries, while directly referencing complex relations existing between people. These relations can be understood more broadly, include various modes of coexistence: political, social, oppressive, or conciliatory. She lives and works in Warsaw.
Agata Bogacka
Declarations 4
2024
acrylic on canvas
170 x 220 cm
66 7/8 x 86 5/8 in
Agata Bogacka
Disagreement 26
2024
acrylic on canvas
130 x 140 cm
51 1/8 x 55 1/8 in
Solo exhibitions:
2024
Conflict Enabler, Municipal Gallery Arsenal, Poznań, Poland
2023
Stories of Lasting (with Iza Tarasewicz), Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2022
System of Divisions, Museum Jerke, Recklinghausen, Germany
Fields of Conflict, Edel Assanti, London, UK
Inequality, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2021
Divided View, BWA Tarnów, Poland
2020
Demonstration of Pictures, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
Compositions of Dependencies, Glassyard, Budapest, Hungary
2019
The Law of Balance, Svit, Prague, Czech Republic
2018
Relationship, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
2017
Paintings, Galeria Dawid Radziszewski, Warsaw, Poland
Crowd, BWA Zielona Góra, Poland
2014
The Egg, Instituto Buena Bista, Curacao, Country of Curaçao
2012
Paintings, Ring Gallery, Legnica, Poland
2011
Topos, PGS Sopot, Poland
Diaries, Aando Fine Art, Berlin, Germany
Diaries, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2009
Plan of the Journey, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, Poland
Returns, BWA Zielona Góra, Poland
The Walk, Platan Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2007
Second Half of Heart, Potocka Gallery, Cracow, Poland
2006
Heart, Raster Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2005
Did You Love Me?, Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna, Austria
2004
Et si je te faisais traverser le pont?, Espace Croise, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Roubaix, France
2003
Art of Beautiful Artists (with Anna Baumgart), independent city space, Warsaw, Poland
Come with me / Komm mit mir, Polnishes Institut, Berlin, Germany
I’m Bleeding, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
Selected group exhibitions:
2024
Testimony, Neues Museum Nürnberg, Germany
Seeing with the Body. Galeria Studio Collection, Galeria Studio, Warsaw, Poland
2023
Contemporary Myths and Artifacts, Coulisse Gallery, Torsgatan 22, Stockholm, Sweden
Who is Janina Węgrzynowska?, Municipal Gallery BWA, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Who is Janina Węgrzynowska?, Galeria Studio, Warsaw, Poland
2022
Controlfriction, City Art Centre (MOS) in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
Kinds of Love, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
Our Heritage — Selection from the Balázs-Denés Collection, aqb Project Space, Budapest, Hungary
2021
Do You Realise There is a Rainbow Even if it’s Night? The Collection of MSN in Warsaw at MOS in Gorzów Wielkopolski, City Art Centre (MOS) in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
*** TOWARDS FREEDOM. Polish Art of the 20th and 21st Century. Works from the collection of Werner Jerke, Państwowa Galeria Sztuki, Sopot, Poland
Instant Archives. Instant and Instax in Poland, National Museum in Gdańsk, Poland
When Society Meets Art / When Art Meets Society. Parallel reactions on the border from here and beyond, aqb Project Space, Budapest, Hungary
2020
Cherries, Arsenal Gallery, Białystok, Poland
&I<3U2, Studio Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2019
Paint Also Known as Blood. Women, Affect and Desire in Contemporary Painting, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland
BODY WORKS, PGS Sopot, Poland
First World Problems: Life Before Death, Fundacja Stefana Gierowskiego, Warsaw; Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, Poland
Happiness is Born in the Guts, Municipal Gallery Arsenał, Poznań, Poland
Metamorphosis, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
2018
Great Sarmatians of this Country, BWA Tarnów, Poland
2015
Dr Werner Jerke Collection. The Selection, Atlas Sztuki, Łódź, Poland
2014
Nightlife Archives. 6th Warsaw Under Construction Festival, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland
The Day is not Enough (Few Autobiographical Stories), Municipal Gallery Arsenał, Poznań; BWA Sokół, Nowy Sącz; BWA Kielce; Cultural Centre, Białystok, Poland
2013
Caution! Things May Appear Different Than They Are, Auf AEG Halle, Nurnberg, Germany
The Day is not Enough (Few Autobiographical Stories), Wrocław Contemporary Museum; BWA Jelenia Góra, Poland
Painters of Illustrations, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland
2012
Broken Movie, Awangarda Gallery – BWA Wrocław, Poland
2010
Fitting in Space, Zico House, 98Weeks Research Project Space, Beirut, Lebanon
The Last Film, Raster Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2009
Fancy Success, Bunkier Sztuki, Cracow, Poland
2008
Red Eye Effect. Polish Photography of the 21st Century, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
2007
Wann immer vorerst. Collection of the Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Kunstforum, Vienna, Austria
Woman about Woman, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biała, Poland
2006
Polish Painting of the XXI Century, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2005
Egocentric, Immoral, Outmoded. Contemporary Images of Artists, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2004
Beauty or Painting Effects, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biała, Poland
Blind Date, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
Distances?, Le Plateau / FRAC Île-de-France, Paris, France
2003
5th National Young Painters Exhibition, Awangarda Gallery – BWA Wrocław, Poland
2002
The Young are Realists, Really, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
Publications:
Agata Bogacka. Paintings 2016–2022, ed. Gunia Nowik, 77 Press Philip Niedenthal and Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw 2023
Agata Bogacka, ed. Łukasz Gorczyca, Państwowa Galeria Sztuki w Sopocie, Sopot 2012
Agata Bogacka. Diaries, ed. Joanna Kordjak, Zachęta – Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warszawa 2011
Selected collections:
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, National Museum in Gdańsk, The Bank Austria Creditanstalt, The ING Polish Art Foundation, Museum Jerke, Jankilevitsch Collection, ASOM Collection, Galeria Studio Collection
Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg
Sculptor, born in 1987 in Bonn, Germany. She studied at the HfBK, Hamburg University of Fine Arts and completed her studies at the Berlin University of the Arts, UDK, where she studied with Manfred Pernice. Welding, forging, and lacquering the works herself, her labor-intensive practice involves industrial tools and production techniques. The playfulness of shapes and colors in addition to the influence of pop culture contradict the often heavy, cold materials (steel, aluminum, plastic). Interested in the push and pull relationship between the real and the abstract, furniture and other domestic objects and materials serve as an anchor upon which she can experiment. She lives and works in Berlin.
Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg
les fleurs du mal
2024
polystyrene, lacquer, wooden frame
200 x 147 x 5 cm
78 3/4 x 57 7/8 x 2 in
Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg
les fleurs du mal
2024
polystyrene, lacquer, wooden frame
197 x 147 x 5 cm
77 1/2 x 57 7/8 x 2 in
Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg
Agnes Martin, BMW M3 GTR, 1992
2023
BMW Artcar Modell 1:18, spraypaint, enamel
8 x 26 x 11 cm
3 1/8 x 10 1/4 x 4 3/8 in
Solo exhibitions:
2024
a room of my own, Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin, Germany
2023
Dormez-Vous, DAS GERICHT, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
Long Shadows Forecast Good Weather, Bad Posture, Lausanne, Switzerland
Pale Pleasures, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2022
Müde Pferde, Efremidis, Berlin, Germany
2021
SUN CITY, Ruttkowski;68, Paris, France
L’Esprit Nouveau, Kunstraum Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
2020
E.X.P.O. (sub sole), Efremidis Gallery ERP, Berlin, Germany
2019
Danke Doro, Dorothea Konwiarz Stiftung, Berlin, Germany
Selected group exhibitions:
2024
Von Wolken und anderen Lügen, Galerie EIGEN+ART, Berlin Germany
Secret Language, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2023
Dammi i Colori, Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, Portugal
UNI, Kali Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland
CRASH CLUB, Pawilon Bliska, Warsaw, Poland
BE(L)LA, Gunia Nowik Gallery, LETO, Polana Institute, Hotel Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland
MONOTYPES, Edition VFO at Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland
Venus Und Sonne Im Zehnten Haus, Mehdi Chouakri, Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin, Germany
2022
New Mediations, Modem, Museum for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary
Ex and Inter, Studio Jochem Hendricks, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
Und in welchem Namen tun Sie es?, Kunstverein Kärnten, Klagenfurt, Austria
Neuzeit Grotesk, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
From “Abstraction” to Abstraction, Fundacja Stefana Gierowskiego, Warsaw, Poland
2021
The Owls Are Not What They Seem., Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm, Sweden
Transmission, Galerie Mark Müller, Zürich, Switzerland
Tipping Point, Arndtstraße 15, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
This Must Be The Place, Villa Schöningen, Skulpturengarten, Potsdam, Germany
Shapes of Time, Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
From Almora to Amrum, Efremidis, Berlin, Germany
2020
Handpicked Masterpieces, Collectors Room V&GS Art., Hamburg, Germany
Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin, Germany
Studio Berlin, Berghain X Boros Foundation, Berghain, Berlin, Germany
Light & Dark, Monom X Sensus, Funkhaus, Berlin, Germany
Layers & Tracks, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, Netherlands
KvS Auction no. 3, Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin, Germany
Ein gern gesehener Gast, Aplus X Office Impart, Aplus Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2019
Link in Bio. Art after Social Media, MdBK Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig, Germany
Jahresgaben, Kunstverein Arnsberg, Arnsberg, Germany
Conny Maier, Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg, Pola Sieverding, Office Impart, Berlin, Germany
salondergegenwart 2019, salondergegenwart, Hamburg, Germany
I am Ellen, After the Butcher x classepernice, Berlin, Germany
Law of the instrument, Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin, Germany
2018
Set in scene, Haus am Lützowplatz Studio Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Young Talents, SAP, Walldorf, Germany
A Walk In The Park, A Step In The Dark, Raum LinksRechts, Hamburg, Germany
Upward, behind the onstreaming, it mooned, Gussglashalle, Berlin, Germany
Die Grosse NRW Düsseldorf, Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany
2017
Seen by 8, Museum of Photography Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin, Germany
Die Grosse NRW Düsseldorf, Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany
2016
Slalom – Sculpture in Photography, Binyamin Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
Be water my friend, HfBK Hugs x KHM Cologne, Hamburg, Germany
The Simple Life, HfBK Hugs, Spielbudenplatz, Hamburg, Germany