artist collective
HOUSE of mice
"House of Mice" is a Polish artists' collective of Malgorzata Markiewicz and Julia Medyńska. Both artists come from different backgrounds and have found strong commonalities in their personal experiences in relation to their native Poland. In their collaboration, both women explore their common artistic field of interest - the home.
For them, the home represents a dualistic realm. It is a private place of warmth and security, but can also quickly mutate into a psychological and physical oppression behind closed doors.
Markiewicz, as an interdisciplinary artist, primarily addresses the problem of domestic oppression of women stemming from personally shaped experiences that relate to the Polish patriarchy. Markiewicz confronts her audience with the ills of a society that marginalizes women through the repetition of domestic activity. Trapped in the privacy of their own homes, these women are isolated from the public sphere, as it represents a realm first reserved for men and their worldly pursuits.
Medyńska's artistic practice as a painter explores domestic oppression through matriarchy in a distinct way. Growing up in Germany, she was forced to become two different people. As a Polish immigrant, she was taught by her grandmother to hide the inner truth of her Polish homeland in order to fit into the outer German world. The acting out of home and the role of women within the home are central themes that Medyńska stagefully presents to viewers in her large-scale paintings.
Markiewicz and Medynska both recognized that domestic oppression was endured only for the benefit of the public and its inhabitants. In this sense, the collective "House of Mice" is an attempt by two artists to tear down the walls separating the private and the public, and to let the oppressed voices have their say. The mice are hidden behind the walls, they have their secrets and are now ready to reveal through Markiewicz and Medynska.
"House of Mice" tells of stories that should not be told, they reveal what remained hidden and speak about the issues that should never be addressed.
exhibition
A multimedia exhibition by the Polish artists' collective HOUSE OF MICE
The Krakauer Haus presents for the first time the Polish artists' collective Julia Medyńska and Małgorzata Markiewicz in collaboration with art historian Dr. Chiara Seidl.
In their Nuremberg debut, "House of Mice" explores the meaning of home and its localization with a multimedia installation.
Based on the Polish origins of Medyńska and Markiewicz, the artists draw on their own biographies primarily as artists, but also as housewives, and mothers, thus giving their works a female voice. Playfully, the collective addresses identity-forming issues and mentality aspects of their home, highlighting a classical conception of the home as a place itself, as well as the role of women as the primary caretakers of the home, both inside and out.
Part 2 of the exhibition is located in the Modul Gallery in Nuremberg's public space.
"House of Mice" is part of the international project "Project Unlocked" curated by Dr. Chiara Seidl.
The exhibition at Krakauer Haus is curated by: Dr. Chiara Seidl and Kasia Prusik-Lutz.
Exhibition Opening:
Friday, March 25, 6 p.m. at Krakauer Haus,
Hintere Insel Schütt 34, 90403
Nuremberg, Germany.
Duration of the Exhibition:
March 25 to April 29, 2022
exhibition
"Lost & Found"
The central pivot of the exhibition is a complex of works consisting of objects that were lost, found new uses, and were subsequently transformed into art. The works installed within the modern locker gallery in the center of Nuremberg, as it were in a Wunderkammer, raise questions for the visitors: What stories lie behind the objects? Who were they associated with before they were separated? And what meaning do they convey today?
In its sculptural and painterly realization, the Polish artists' collective "House of Mice" deals with a long tradition surrounding the fascination of storing and exhibiting precious rarities. What does it mean to collect? What can be collected at all and where does this passion reach its limits? Allegorical paintings and narratives in text and audio complement the installative work.
Module gallery - Art in the compartment
Old luggage lockers in the Lorenzer Passage were converted and given new functions. A total of 48 lockers form a coherent space in which the individual modules can be unlocked with a 1-euro coin each. After opening, visitors can decide whether the coin should be donated or returned.
The exhibited works are also available for purchase.
For more information, please visit:
Exhibition Opening:
Saturday, March 26 at 6 p.m. at Modulgalerie, Subway Passage, Lorenzkirche, Nuremberg, Germany.
Duration of the Exhibition:
March 26 to June 26, 2022
The exhibition is curated by Dr. Chiara Seidl and Kasia Prusik-Lutz in the context of the international project "Project UN-LOCKED"
Photo Gallery | Krakauer Haus
