The Beguiling Siren is Thy Crest

Sirens are accompanied by other hybrids, eagerly depicted in the second half of the 19th and the first decade of the 20th century, in the Symbolism period, in the works of Jacek Malczewski, Wacław Szymanowski, Félicien Rops. Reflected in their art is a crisis of the bourgeoisie and the very rules of language. Depicting hybrid forms fulfils eccentric fantasies, symbolically breaking the suffocating norms of society. The avant-garde movements of the 20th century find in the Siren their own symbol of emancipated sensuality. This is evident in the works of surrealist Dorothea Tanning, Leonor Fini, and Louise Bourgeois.

The motif of the siren activates queer themes as well, for instance in Wolfgang Tillmans famous photograph “Lutz, Alex, Suzanne & Christoph on the Beach” or the sculpture “Him” (by Danish duet Elmgreen & Dragset), which depicts the Copenhagen Little Mermaid as a man. Selected works reflect on the economic crisis, as well as Anthropocene – a new epoch in Earth’s history, shaped by man (Liz Craft and her “Spinster” or Jerzy Szumczyk’s outdoor installation). Anne Uddenberg installations present the motif of the siren in a different, modern light of perfecting the human condition and nature through technology (transhumanism). Aleksandra Waliszewska’s drawings, on the other hand, provide a glimpse into dark phantasies dwelling under the skin of a city by the river. Although this artist draws inspiration from historic works of art, she explores very modern fears of the unknown and of the city: a system complex enough to birth its own mythologies. This many of Waliszewska’s drawings of sirens were never on display before. The accompanying program will also feature Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s film “The Lure” – an 80s-stylized tale of two Vistula-dwelling sirens, awarded at Sundance festival 2016.

The siren must be heard – that’s why the whole exhibition is enveloped in the voice of Juliana Snapper, an American artist, who sings underwater. Her submerged opera was performed in Warsaw, at the Palace of Culture’s swimming pool, in 2010.

The Mermaid of Warsaw is a symbol that doesn’t bind forcefully, but organises the community while allowing it to remain diverse.

The exhibition features the works of the following artists:

Korakrit Arunanondchai, Evelyne Axell, Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Zdzisław Beksiński, Louise Bourgeois, Eugène Brands, Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Bernard Buffet, Claude Cahun, Liz Craft, Edith Dekyndt, Christian Dietrich, Leo Dohmen, Drexcyia and Abdul Qadim Haqq, Elmgreen & Dragset, Leonor Fini, Ellen Gallagher, Goltyr Painter, Justyna Górowska, Zdzisław Jasiński, Dorota Jurczak, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Birgit Jürgenssen, Tobias Kaspar, Marek Kijewski, Aldona Kopkiewicz and Mateusz Kula, Łukasz Korolkiewicz, Gina Litherland, Jacek Malczewski, Witek Orski, Sylvia Palacios Whitman, Pablo Picasso, Krzysztof Pijarski, Aleka Polis, Agnieszka Polska, Karol Radziszewski, Joanna Rajkowska, Carol Rama, Erna Rosenstein, Tejal Shah, Franciszek Siedlecki, Tomasz Sikorski, Penny Slinger, Juliana Snapper, Franz von Stuck, project „Warsaw’s Sirens” (Jacek Łagowski, Danuta Matloch, Katarzyna Opara, Aleksandra Schönthaler), Alina Szapocznikow, Stanisław Szukalski, Jerzy Bohdan Szumczyk, Wacław Szymanowski, Dorothea Tanning, Wolfgang Tillmans, Tunga, Anne Uddenberg, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Wojciech Wilczyk, Hannah Wilke, Ming Wong, Marcelo Zammenhoff, Anna Zaradny, Artur Żmijewski..