Dorota Nieznalska

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Dorota Nieznalska 2003

Dorota Alicja Nieznalska (born 19 September 1973) is a Polish visual artist and sculptor.

Nieznalska's controversial installation

Catholics
. The group exhibition at which the installation was presented was closed down by the authorities, while Nieznalska herself faced legal charges on account of an alleged violation of a provision of the Polish criminal code prohibiting blasphemy.

The sculptor was successful in fighting off the blasphemy conviction following the favorable ruling of an

appeals court
in 2009.

Early life

Dorota Alicja Nieznalska was born to a devout family in

Gdynia Orłowo.[2][3] Nieznalska enrolled at Gdańsk's Academy of Fine Arts as a student of sculpture in 1993, a year after making her first solo exhibition in her native city.[3] Nieznalska's fine arts instructors were the Professors Franciszek Duszeńko and Grzegorz Klaman.[4] Nieznalska graduated from the academy in 1999 and exhibited a number of student works (Insemination, 1997; The Pleasure Principle, 1998; Absolution, 1999) in the 1990s.[3][5] She subsequently participating in three major exhibitions in Gdańsk, Warsaw, and Białystok in 2000 and 2001.[3][6]

Pasja (2002)

Christ" in the ensuing controversy.[1]

Legal charges of blasphemy

Dorota Nieznalska in court

Gdańsk activists of the

Home Army did with women who were in close relationships with [the] Germans"[12]

At the conclusion of the first legal process in 2003, the court found Nieznalska guilty of "

złoty, but the court decided to increase the penalty.[2] Judge Zieliński additionally forbade Nieznalska from traveling out of the country.[13] The local deputies of the League of Polish Families present during the sentencing clapped to express their approval.[2]

Controversy surrounding Nieznalska's installation, already boiling during the initial trial, persisted well into the appeals process. An unsigned

right - albeit "the first of its kind" for modern Poland - treated Nieznalska as "a tasteless provocateur, covering up her lack of genuine talent with shock tactics" and cited the opinion of Franciszek Starowieyski, "one of the best-known Polish sculptors, himself rather partial to unconventional works", who "said before the beginning of the lawsuit that the one to blame was not the novice artist but the curator of the Gdańsk gallery. According to Starowieyski, Nieznalska's installation was of such a low artistic standard that it should never have been exhibited. Many other known artists, while not approving of the sentence, agreed that if not for the scandal, Nieznalska's work would have stood little chance of making it into reputable galleries."[2] The former president Lech Wałęsa spoke out against Nieznalska and supported a hard line, maintaining that the artist's sentence was insufficiently severe.[1] The fine arts professors supporting the Wyspa exhibitions decided to atone for the mistake by closing the gallery.[12]

The more

Pawel Leszkowicz compared Nieznalska to Alicja Zebrowska and Katarzyna Kozyra, two other female artists attacked for immoral works in the 1990s.[7]

Two former Wyspa staff - curator Aneta Szylak and director Grzegorz Klaman, Nieznalska's former instructor - wrote that while "[s]ince the times of Plato, the academy [had been] a place for intellectual and artistic discourse", the principle "was broken when the gallery closed... Because she had the courage to show 'Pasja', Nieznalska had her scholarships and subsidies cut off; she has been stigmatized and censored... A spectacular political sham is [the League of Polish Families'] typical marketing strategy, and the judge acted just like they wanted him to."[12]

Nieznalska was acquitted after an arduous process and multiple appeals in June 2009.[10][15] The Gazeta Wyborcza hailed the decision as "a toast to freedom."[10]

The European Humanist Federation has alleged that Polish prosecutors have been trying to revive the case in 2010.[8] Polish reports denied that Nieznalska would be subjected to a third trial, emphasizing the acquittal as binding.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Baird, Daniel (October 2005). "Between the Cross and the Jewish Graveyard". Archived January 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine The Walrus. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e (24 July 2003). "Art vs. The Church". The Warsaw Voice. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Official biography at http://www.nieznalska.com. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b Sienkiewicz, Karol (December 2006). "Dorota Nieznalska". Archived 2010-05-13 at the Wayback Machine Polish Culture. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  5. ^ Kowalczyk, Izabela (2002). Niebezpieczne związki sztuki z ciałem (in Polish). Galeria Miejska Arsenał. p. 70.
  6. ^ Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka, Małgorzata. "Pasja". Archived May 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Alternatywa.com. Retrieved 20 May 2010. (in Polish)
  7. ^ a b c Leskowicz, Pawel. "Feminist Revolt: Censorship of Women’s Art in Poland". The Lilith Gallery of Toronto. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  8. ^ a b (March 2010). "The Case of Dorota Nieznalska". The European Humanist Federation. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  9. ^ a b c Dorota Nieznalska. Pasja (Passion), 2002. Artliberated.org Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  10. ^ a b c Jarecka, Dorota (5 June 2009)."Nieznalska, katolicy, kulturyści". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 20 May 2010. (in Polish)
  11. ^ Heuer, Megan (June–July 2003). "Architectures of Gender: Contemporary Women’s Art in Poland". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  12. ^ a b c Szylak, Aneta & Grzegorz Klaman (20 July 2003). "The Case of Dorota Nieznalska". Archived 2021-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Raster. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4051-5926-5
    .
  14. ^ Osęka, Andrzej (12 February 2005). "Bojaźliwi bluźniercy". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 20 May 2010. (in Polish)
  15. ^ Sienkiewicz, Karol (December 2009). "Visual Arts - Summary of 2009". Archived 2011-01-27 at the Wayback Machine Polish Culture. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  16. ^ Szaro, Grzegorz (11 March 2010). "Nieznalska uniewinniona, procesu nie będzie". Wiadomości Trójmiasto. Gazeta.pl. Retrieved 20 May 2010. (in Polish)

External links

Official websites:

The blasphemy case:

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