Weronika  Szpalerska
Queen Verona  ( Weronika Szpalerska )
The artist, fascinated by the Far East since childhood, combines the tradition of Western oil painting with the themes, symbolism and formal and material solutions of Eastern art. The exhibition will feature works from the series "Charmed by Japan", which has been in development for 15 years, as well as this year's newest series, "Queen and Bear"; telling the story of the friendship of the pair of title characters. The project is a breakthrough for the artist, as it is the first time she chooses to put herself in paintings and tell the story of very personal experiences, fantasies and inner journeys.
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Biography

A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Between 2008 and 2010, as part of the Japanese government's MEXT scholarship, she conducted research work at Tama Art University in Tokyo on the combination of painting and interior design elements in the Japanese idea of the room screen. During this time, influenced by the material culture of Japan, she abandoned the color-geometric abstraction she had been practicing so far in favor of figurative painting, which is a sought-after combination of decorativeness and depth of meaning.

The fusion of the Eastern and Western worlds has taken place not only on the thematic level, but also on the formal and material level. Despite the fact that the paintings are mostly done in Western oil technique, the artist has adopted the formal solutions of Japanese ukio-e woodcuts: patches of a limited color palette are surrounded by a line, and the drawing itself is simplified to the maximum.
Wood is used as a substrate - a sub-image typical of religious painting of the eastern part of the Western world. The artist decided on this different form of cellulose, since paper, typical of Japanese painting, tolerates oil paints badly and cannot be exhibited unframed, and simplicity of form is very important for the paintings as a whole.
From Eastern Church painting is taken the hieratic and, as it were, the "codification of poses" that the depicted persons, animals, plants or objects can assume.
Over time, the plywood or HDF substrate began to appear as part of the color palette, followed by dense floral and geometric patterns - solutions also picked up in classical Japanese woodcuts.
Another motif linking the worlds of Eastern and Western painting, and another formal and material solution introduced in the works, is the technique of laying down gold and silver flakes. It is significant in both Japanese ink painting on paper and Western sacred painting on board. The way the metals catch the light is unfortunately impossible to convey in photographs, as is the impression made by the size of the works; so it is worth seeing them in person.

During the two years of the pandemic, due to limited opportunities to leave the house and the need to redirect all explorations from outside to inside; the artist devoted much more time to painting, which resulted in a diversification of techniques. Recently, oils on canvas are again being created, as well as drawings and collages.

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AVAILABLE WORKS

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Rainbow dragons, 2023

oil, schlagmetal, plywood
100 x 100 cm

price: 7 800 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Seal, 2018

oil, schlagmetal, HDF
100 x 100 cm

price: 6 800 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Australian gavel | ZEN version, 2021

stain and oil on HDF
105 x 180 cm

price: 13 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Dream Over a Pond with Nenufars - triptych, 2022

oil and schagmetal on plywood
112 x 70 cm

price: 18 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Let's Play - triptych (3x 112 x 70 cm), 2023

plywood schagmetal
112 x 70 cm

price: 18 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Q&B 3, sketch, 2024

marker pen, paper
60 x 40 cm

price: 1 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Polar bear I, 2024

incography
21 x 30 cm

price: 500 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Polar bear II, 2024

incography
21 x 30 cm

price: 500 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Queen and Bear No2 - ICE, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 140 cm

price: 16 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Queen and Bear No3 - FIRE, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
140 x 100 cm

price: 14 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Q&B No4, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 140 cm

price: 8 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Queen & Bear No4 - BLOOD, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 140 cm

price: 16 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Queen and Bear No5 - LOVE, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 160 cm

price: 20 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Queen and Bear No6 - HOME, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 150 cm

price: 16 000 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Ikebana I, 2017

oil and schagmetal on plywood
70 x 100 cm

price: 6 700 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Ikebana II - Blue Spirit, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
50 x 50 cm

price: 2 800 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

Ikebana II - Silver, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
50 x 50 cm

price: 2 800 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

My Flower - My Rules, 2020

oil and schagmetal on HDF
100 x 100 cm

price: 7 800 zł

Queen Verona ( Weronika Szpalerska )

New Hope (it’s up in the air), 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 140 cm

price: 12 000 zł
ARCHIVE WORKS

Iron wolf, 2016

mixed technique on HDF
50 x 50 cm

price: 2 800 zł

The Queen and the Bear No1 - Smell, 2023

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 160 cm

price: 20 000 zł

Queen - Beginning, 2023

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 60 cm

Queen and Bear No7 - ETERNITY, 2024

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 150 cm

price: 15 000 zł

Wisteria II, 2022

mixed technique on HDF
100 x 148 cm

price: 14 000 zł