Alicja Kubicka. Center of the World 📅 5.07 – 21.09.2025 📍 Zachęta Project Space Curator: Magda Kardasz Collaboration: Pola Gadowska ~~~~~~~~ Exhibition opening: 4.07, Friday at 7:00 PM ~~~~~~~~ The exhibition is a personal yet universal commentary on the social expectations accompanying the choice of an artistic career. Alicja Kubicka, confronting numerous opinions and stereotypes about the profession of an artist, addresses in her work the tension between the need for independence and the necessity of constantly explaining her choices. As she notes, the decision to follow an artistic path—often perceived as egocentric or detached from 'real life'—results in constant confrontation with questions about adulthood, responsibility, and 'real' work. This necessity of continuously explaining her professional position and creative identity has become not only a daily experience but also the main theme of her artistic practice. Kubicka treats this paradox—the need for peaceful creation clashing with the necessity of fighting for visibility—as material for reflection and ironic reinterpretation. "Center of the World" is thus an exhibition about becoming an artist, about social perceptions of art, and about how private experience can become a starting point for critical commentary. ~~~~~~~~ Alicja Kubicka — born in 1993 in Bydgoszcz. Graduate of the Painting Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (2017). Resident of the Artists' Colony in Gdańsk from 2016–2019. She lives and works in Poznań. In her free time, she practices long-distance cycling and yoga. ~~~~~~~~ Selected exhibitions: - 2024 – "I Speak When I Must," Municipal Gallery BWA in Bydgoszcz - 2022 – "Hasty Retreat," State Art Gallery in Sopot - "Open Field," in collaboration with Krzysztof Mętel and Mateusz Piestrak, Pani Domu, Poznań - 2018 – "Painting Set," BWA Municipal Gallery in Bydgoszcz
