Born in 1947 in Rypin, Poland. In 1964–65 she went for an educational art trip to Canada. In 1965–1971, she studied at the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in prof. Tadeusz Łodziana’s sculpture studio and prof. Oskar Hansen’s Solids and Planes design studio. Since the late 1960s, photograph and its duplication techniques such as thermocopy or photocopy have become the main tool for the artist's exploration of the representation of women and their role marked by society. Her most known cycle About Her proposes an investigation or introspection within the female identity, the mystical version of feminism, where the photographs are accompanied by adjectives – meaningful titles given to the pictures: Dangerous, Independent, Unapproachable, Mature, Cold, Worried, Thirty Years Old, Useless, Left-handed, Velvety, Caresses, Full of Hope. She lives and works in Warsaw.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Untitled (from Essence of Things series), 1974, print by transfer, acrylic, 50 x 50 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Untitled (from Essence of Things series), 1974, print by transfer, acrylic, 50 x 50 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, About Her V (from About Her series), 1967/78/21, c-print, plexiglass, 49,6 x 37,3 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, About Her V (from About Her series), 1967/78/21, c-print, plexiglass, 49,6 x 37,3 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Left-handed II (from About Her series), 1981, gelatin silver print, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 29 x 19,3 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Left-handed II (from About Her series), 1981, gelatin silver print, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 29 x 19,3 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Little Caresses X (from About Her series), 1981, gelatin silver print, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 29 x 19,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Little Caresses X (from About Her series), 1981, gelatin silver print, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 29 x 19,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Determined (from About Her series), 1980, gelatin silver print, pencil, stamp, mounted on cardboard, 29,5 x 38,8 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Determined (from About Her series), 1980, gelatin silver print, pencil, stamp, mounted on cardboard, 29,5 x 38,8 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Full of Hope (from About Her series), 1980, gelatin silver print, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 28,5 x 19,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Full of Hope (from About Her series), 1980, gelatin silver print, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 28,5 x 19,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Tormented (from About Her series), 1980, gelatin silver print, yellow aniline, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 39,5 x 29,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Tormented (from About Her series), 1980, gelatin silver print, yellow aniline, pencil, mounted on cardboard, 39,5 x 29,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Love III, 1977, thermocopy, crayon, 29 x 36,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Love III, 1977, thermocopy, crayon, 29 x 36,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Trace Or Touch (from Sculptural Notebook series), 1977, plaster, print by transfer, ø 13,5 x 1 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Trace Or Touch (from Sculptural Notebook series), 1977, plaster, print by transfer, ø 13,5 x 1 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Dionizopolis (from Black, White and Green series), 1983, gelatin silver print, pink and orange aniline, 19 x 20,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Dionizopolis (from Black, White and Green series), 1983, gelatin silver print, pink and orange aniline, 19 x 20,5 cm
Teresa Gierzyńska, Pause, solo show at Gunia Nowik Gallery, 2021. Photo: Błażej Pindor.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Pause, solo show at Gunia Nowik Gallery, 2021. Photo: Błażej Pindor.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Pause, solo show at Gunia Nowik Gallery, 2021. Photo: Błażej Pindor.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Pause, solo show at Gunia Nowik Gallery, 2021. Photo: Błażej Pindor.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Pause, solo show at Gunia Nowik Gallery, 2021. Photo: Błażej Pindor.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Pause, solo show at Gunia Nowik Gallery, 2021. Photo: Błażej Pindor.
Teresa Gierzyńska, Women Live for Love, solo exhibition at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2021, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, Women Live for Love, solo exhibition at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2021, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, Women Live for Love, solo exhibition at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2021, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, Women Live for Love, solo exhibition at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2021, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, Women Live for Love, solo exhibition at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2021, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, Women Live for Love, solo exhibition at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2021, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, BASEL SOCIAL CLUB, Basel, Switzerland, 2023, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, BASEL SOCIAL CLUB, Basel, Switzerland, 2023, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, BASEL SOCIAL CLUB, Basel, Switzerland, 2023, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, BASEL SOCIAL CLUB, Basel, Switzerland, 2023, exhibition view
Teresa Gierzyńska, Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, 2023–2024, Walker Art Center, exhibition view, photo: Eric Mueller. Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Teresa Gierzyńska, Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, 2023–2024, Walker Art Center, exhibition view, photo: Eric Mueller. Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Teresa Gierzyńska, Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, 2023–2024, Walker Art Center, exhibition view, photo: Eric Mueller. Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Teresa Gierzyńska, Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, 2023–2024, Walker Art Center, exhibition view, photo: Eric Mueller. Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Teresa Gierzyńska, Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, 2023–2024, Walker Art Center, exhibition view, photo: Eric Mueller. Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Teresa Gierzyńska, Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, 2023–2024, Walker Art Center, exhibition view, photo: Eric Mueller. Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Solo exhibitions:
2024
Here and Now, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2021
Women Live for Love, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
Pause, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2019
FOAF 2019: Teresa Gierzyńska & Isabelle Fein, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
2018
Left-handed, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
2017
Moods, Vintage Photo Festival, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2014
Touch, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
2009
About Her. Photographs from 1967–2008, Arton Foundation, Warsaw, Poland
2008
The Essence of Things, Czarna Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2004
Four Pictures, Mala Galeria ZPAF, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
1993
T.G., Galeria ZPAF, Cracow, Poland
1991
Shadows and covered the body ..., Mała Galeria ZPAF, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
1990
About Her. Black, White and Green, Galeria FF, Łódź, Poland
SHE IT ME, Galeria Ściana Wschodnia, Warsaw, Poland
1981
She it me, Ściana Wschodnia Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
1976
Graphics (Memories), Dom Artysty Plastyka, Warsaw, Poland
Selected group exhibitions:
2024
We Want the Whole Life. Feminisms in Polish Art, State Gallery of Art, Sopot, Poland
Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, Vancouver Art Gallery, British Columbia, Canada
Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, USA
2023
Family Affair, The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
MY BODY IS YOUR BODY, Braunsfelder, Cologne, Germany
Basel Social Club, Basel, Switzerland
2022
Gloss, Matt, Color, The Museum of Warsaw, Poland
Kinds of Love, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
Cartographies of Sublime Feelings, BWA Zielona Góra, Poland
2021
My mother, my daughter, BWA Krosno, Poland
Self-Portrait with Blues. Hasior and New Art, Władysław Hasior Gallery, (Tatra Museum), Zakopane, Poland
Tender Attention. Urszula Czartoryska and Photography, Fotofestiwal 2021, Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Poland
Instant Archives. Instant and Instax in Poland, National Museum in Gdańsk, Poland
With Pleasure, Galeria Szara, Katowice; Krupa Gallery, Wrocław, Poland
2020
&I<3U2, Galeria Studio, Warsaw, Poland
2019
Metamorphosis, Pola Magnetyczne, Warsaw, Poland
Photography collection, Gallery 10, The Art Institute of Chicago, USA
2018
From the collection of Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2014
By the River that Isn't, BWA Sokół‚ Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nowy Sącz, Poland
Architecture of the Shadow. Chalets and bazaars, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland
2012
Implicit in Sex. From the collection of Joanna and Krzysztof Madelski, Photofestival 2012, Museum of the City of Łódź, Poland
2009
SIEGesIKONen transFORM, Humboldt Umspannwerk, Berlin, Germany
2007
Time Saved 1977-2006, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
2006
Icons of Victory, Łódź Art Center, Poland
1992
Europa unden Rammer, Aarhus Festuge, Galleri Image, Aarhus, Denmark
1990
Looking East, Aarhus Festuge, Galleri Image, Aarhus, Denmark
Collection of Contemporary Technological Art, Vicerrectorado de Universitaria, Cuenca, Spain
1989
Looks / Impressions from the collection of Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Poland
1988
Collezione, Autori del Fondo Fotografico della Circoscrizione, Centro Civico di San Miniato, Siena, Italy
II Bienal Internacional de Electrografia y Copy Art, Valencia, Spain
Polish Perceptions / 10 Contemporary Photographers 1977-88, Collins Gallery, Glasgow, UK
L’Immagine delle Donne, Rassegna Fotografica Europea, Buonconvento, Siena, Italy
1986
IX British International Print Biennale, Bradford, UK
1979
Polsk Kunst, Kobenhavns Radhus, Denmark
1978
International Trennial of Drawing, Wrocław, Poland
1970
Young Polish Sculpture in Plein-Air, Legnica, Poland
1969
Drawing-Interior (with Edward Dwurnik and Przemyslaw Kwiek), Galeria Klubu Medyk, Warsaw, Poland
Prizes:
Maria Anto & Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven Art Prize, edition 2019, Miejsce Sztuki Foundation, Warsaw
Selected collections:
Centre Pompidou in Paris; The Art Institute of Chicago; Kunsthaus Zürich; Kontakt. The Art Collection of Erste Group and ERSTE Foundation; Museo International de Electrografia in Cuenca; Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź; Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw; Museum in Gliwice; Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw; National Museum in Gdańsk; Casa São Roque – Centro de Arte in Porto
Selected press:
Artforum: Camila McHugh on Teresa Gierzyńska
ArtReview: A Sense of Challenge and Exchange: Teresa Gierzyńska, ‘Women Live for Love’ – by Phoebe Blatton
E-flux: Teresa Gierzyńska’s ‘Women Live for Love’ – by Ewa Borysiewicz
