Galeria Test in Warsaw (ul. Marszałkowska 34/50) opens on November 4, 2026, with the exhibition “The Body Remembers the Path to Nature,” bringing together the works of Ireneusz Kojło and Jolanta Wołocznik. The exhibition will run until December 18 and will be open to visitors five days a week. Admission is free, and the project is curated by Anna Hlebowicz. The opening is scheduled for 19:00, with an interpretation in Polish Sign Language (PJM) provided, and the exhibition will also feature audio descriptions.
Two Perspectives on the Relationship with Nature
The exhibition presents a contrast between two artistic approaches that, despite different media, share a common theme – the relationship between humans and the natural world. Jolanta Wołocznik creates sculptures focused on the human body, its gesture, tension, and emotion. The artist uses simplified, expressive figures that assume positions evoking forms and movements known from the animal world. This approach aims to reveal the primal, intuitive bond connecting humans with nature.
Ireneusz Kojło tackles the same theme in painting, using techniques of close-up and scale change. Through this, seemingly ordinary motifs – grasses, insects, animals, or landscape elements – gain a new, unexpected dimension, sometimes monumental. Kojło’s painting, though seemingly realistic, becomes an attempt to extract from everyday life those elements that usually go unnoticed. The juxtaposition of sculpture and painting leads the viewer to reflect on how much of nature remains within us, reminding us that we are an integral part of it, even if we often forget this in daily life.
The Artists' Creative Background
Ireneusz Kojło was born in 1966 in Hajnówka. He studied at the Faculty of Graphics of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he received his diploma in 1990 in poster design with an annex in painting from Professor Teresa Pągowska’s studio. In the same year, he won the 2nd Prize at the Musée 2000 Grand Concours Internationale de Peinture in Luxembourg. His works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions in Poland and abroad, including at the National Museum in Warsaw, Galeria Test, and the KRKA Gallery in Ljubljana. Nature-inspired imagery, landscapes, and the world of plants and animals occupy an important place in the painter’s work. His precise way of depicting and manipulating scale allows him to bring out the poetic dimension of everyday motifs.
Jolanta Wołocznik is a Warsaw-based artist who studied at the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts (ASP) in Warsaw between 1974 and 1979. She studied in the studios of Professor Stanisław Słoniński and Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz, as well as his assistant Grzegorz Kowalski, and also attended classes taught by Professor Oskar Hansen. She completed her diploma with the Dean’s distinction under the supervision of Professor Zofia Demkowska in the Studio of Small Sculptural Forms and Medallion Making. After her studies, she focused on creating expressive sculptural forms in stone and ceramics, as well as painting. In the early 1990s, her work expanded into animation film, understood as moving images without a clear plot. In 2001, the artist received the 3rd Prize of “Cepelia” in the “Souvenir from Poland” competition, and since 2005 she has continued annual creative stays at the Polish Sculpture Centre in Orońsk.
Accessibility and Accompanying Events
Galeria Test has scheduled the availability of the exhibition from Monday to Friday. The gallery is open from 14:00 to 18:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while visiting hours are extended to 12:00 to 18:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During the exhibition, the premieres of two catalogs will take place. Media patronage for the event was provided by Polskie Radio RDC and the Art Journal “Format”.