Opening weekend: May, 23—25, Warsaw (PL)
We are delighted to open MAD Art Gallery Warsaw, a new contemporary art space, in the heart of Warsaw.
The inauguration took place during the weekend of May, 23-25 with a unique exhibition "The Arrows of Resilience: Reimagining Saint-Sebastian", which redefines the symbolism of one of the most iconic figures in the history of art.
The exhibition presents works by 10 artists from Poland and abroad who reinterpret the figure of St. Sebastian as a universal symbol of survival, resistance and corporeality in times of personal, social and political crises. It is a story about wounds that become a source of strength, and about the body as a space of struggle and rebirth.
Listed artists and works by: Cemra - Elia Vanderheyden - Emily Hutchings - Gideon Kiefer - Helena Stiasny - Julia Woronowicz - Rexy Tseng - Szaweł Płóciennik - Themeur Mejri - Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo
The curatorial concept for the exhibition was inspired by Louise Bourgeois's work 'Saint Sebastienne”, an early Christian martyr and saint, usually depicted with his hands behind his back with arrows. Louise often depicts certain kinds of classical imagery with a feminine perspective.
Louise was interested in the idea of aggression, between passivity and aggression, having enemies, being rejected, having people who want something from you. And she’s very interested in that state of where things are not going well, where one is under siege both physically and psychologically.
It was her gaze - feminine, intimate, non-obvious - that opened up the space to think of Sebastienne as more than just a saint from iconography.