Shades of Femininity | Opening of the exhibition of paintings by Joanna Sarapata

“Shades of Femininity” is a passionate and intense story about the diversity of female nature, intimacy, beauty and hidden emotions. The individual exhibition of paintings by Joanna Sarapata presents a wide spectrum of the artist's works from different stages of her work. We thus create the opportunity to look at the artistic evolution of the painter over the years.

The capture of the moment and the emotions that accompany it has always been the fascination of Joanna Sarapata, who from the beginning of her creative path has consistently devoted all her attention to the maximum expression of expression through body and movement.

The presented images are images of women, sitting slightly with their heads freely tilted, almost airy or on the contrary — bodies with a clear weight, palpable almost in their physical form. Faces marked with just a few brushstrokes, described only by contour. On the other hand, never having eyes, called by poets the “mirror of the soul”, from which we instinctively try to read emotions. In Joanna Sarapata, it is the body, its position, pose and gesture that express feminine moods, hidden desires and dilemmas. Sometimes you can see great confidence in them, sometimes distance.

The inspiration for the painter has always been her own experience of the world, a subjective experience — the desire to record what arouses admiration or interest. Each work tells a different story — about loneliness, passion, loss, longing or fulfillment. “Painting gives me that. That which can not be compared with anything. The power of survival.” Every day we experience something different. Our picture of the world changes, in a sense we are born again, we are different. Painting is stopping what is just passing or has to pass. Each picture is therefore a renewed attempt to perfectly describe the real experience.

Joanna Sarapata freely reaches for various means of expression combining oil, coal, pastels, pen, watercolor and also metal. Works are usually created on canvas or cardboard, although the painter's great love is also paper, on which unusual in its simplicity but full of expression sketches made with a pen are created. As the painter herself points out — “paper can handle everything, you don't have to negotiate with it”, thus being an ideal partner to record momentary, brief experiences, like a fleeting word noted on the run.

Thanks to the skillful use of mixed techniques, the works of Joanna Sarapata are light and ephemeral, but with an extraordinary power of influence on the observer. The author invites him on an intimate journey through the diversity of female identity. Penetrating into the depths of human experience, it shows the pages of a tangled history where emotions weave their story. [Magdalena Lewko]
The exhibition is enriched with works from private collections as well as, for the premiere, the latest works of the painter.

Joanna Sarapata (born 1962 in Warsaw)

A world-renowned Polish painter, a graduate of the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where there are as many as 11 of her works. Since 1987, she has been presenting her paintings in France, Spain, Italy, Monaco, USA, Switzerland, South Korea, China and Poland. She lived and worked in France for nearly 20 years, and then for 8 years in Spain. Since 1998, her work has been regularly present in Poland as well. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions and international projects, including the Beijing Biennale, Silk Road Artist in Hangzhou, as well as exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum in California, the Kościuszko Foundation in New York and the Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul.
The main theme of her work is the female act and the mystery of female nature. Characteristic of her painting are female figures devoid of eyes — emotions are expressed through body, gesture, pose and body arrangement. The artist emphasizes that she “paints with emotions” and draws inspiration from European cities, cinema, music and literature. Using mixed techniques, including oil, ink, charcoal, pastel and watercolor, she creates works that combine strength, sensitivity and ethereality.
In 2024, she published an autobiographical book “Up to a Hundred Times Art”, a personal story about her artistic journey and experiences related to art. In 2026, she began a collaboration with Małgorzata Ohme, illustrating with her paintings the volume of poetry “Słem palowe”. Joanna Sarapata's work, for nearly four decades focused on femininity, emotions and human nature, remains her distinctive and recognizable artistic language.

Opening: 22 October 2026, 19.00

Venue: Gold Room, Main Building, Białoprądnicki Manor House, 2 Papiernicza Street, Kraków

Duration of the exhibition: 22 October — 10 November 2026

Curator: Magdalena Lewko

Coordinator: Dorota Halberda