
A broad animal-themed painting exhibition showcasing diverse, personal works.

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Place: DAP1, DAP2 and DAP3 Galleries of the House of the Plastic Artist OW ZPAP in Warsaw
AniMal — Annual exhibition of the OW ZPAP Painting Section SALON DAP 2026 is made up of two parts: ANIMAL in DAP1 and DAP3 Galleries and NEW FROM STUDIOS in DAP2 Gallery. This year’s exhibition features 183 artists, another record for us. Each participant could submit only one work. The exhibited works were not subject to selection.
The thematic ANIMAL exhibition is intended to be very broadly understood animalist painting.
"Animal" — animal in many languages — is a creature, a being; "anima" is the vital principle, soul, life; "anima" and "animus" are the inner genders complementing our psyche. The word also contains the fragment "mal" — perhaps painting: the living and life made permanent.
Animalist painting is not only genre pictures or tales — beautiful, terrifying or funny — it can also be an alarming report on the state of nature or a psychoanalytic analysis of our hidden fears and fantasies. The animal as a symbol has always functioned in art and releases forces that overthrow the smooth appearance of the mask imposed by culture and customs.
Moreover, the purely plastic value of the animal’s shape — abstract patterns in fur, the microcosm of details of wings, eyes or scales — can be a sufficient impulse to create an interesting painting.
Whether this has happened and produced unconventional, very personal and expressive works or simply beautiful ones — we leave the judgment to the viewers and invite you to careful contemplation of both exhibitions.
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Exhibition open: January 9 – February 8, 2026
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January 17, 2026 — grand Painting Section Ball: CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS 2026
A broad animal-themed painting exhibition showcasing diverse, personal works.