ARTIST

Joanna Piotrowska examines the human condition through performative acts and the construction of multiple ‘social landscapes’ using photography, performance and film. Family archives, self-defence manuals and psychotherapeutic methods are used as reference points as Piotrowska explores the complex roles which play out in everyday performance. Her psychologically charged photographs probe human behaviour and the dynamics of familial relations, exploring intimacy, violence, control, and self-protection. The artist reveals moments of care as well as hierarchies of power, anxieties, and imposed conventions that play out in the domestic sphere.

Untitled, 2016 is part of a collection of works where the subject is protected by, or hiding in, a dwelling they have made in their domestic environment. In revisiting the child’s game of building a makeshift fort, Piotrowska exposes her subject’s vulnerability: the adults in her images seek the safety and comfort of shelter, or home. 

Piotrowska was born in 1985 in Warsaw, Poland and lives and works in London. Piotrowska was included in the 2022 Venice Biennale and the 16th Lyon Biennale, 2022. Solo exhibitions include Le Bal, Paris, France; Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Poland; Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland; Tate Britain, London; Yorkshire Sculpture International, Leeds Art Gallery, UK.

CHARITY

Dioz operates in Poland and on its border to provide shelter, food, veterinary care and rehabilitation to animals suffering at the hands of human cruelty. The charity facilitates adoptions for animals that have been hurt, are unwell or are unwanted. Dioz also operates on 7 hectares of farmland where they can care for animals they are unable to re-home.