This exhibition, which took place at Współczesna Gallery in Warsaw, was the artist’s second solo show.
Her first took place at Piwnica pod Baranami in Kraków in 1970, where she was able to select the works herself and design the spatial arrangement. In both exhibitions, she explored feminist themes with surrealist and erotic undertones and questioned the association of women with the domestic sphere. At Współczesna Gallery, she presented for the first time her so-called ‘little furniture’, which combined fragments of the female body. This was presented alongside other fully three-dimensional sculptures made of papier- mâché and fabric, incorporating found objects. She recalled: ‘In the late 1960s, I began to form a vision of the little furniture. The little furniture pieces were created in quick succession, with each one inspiring the next. I began arranging them in certain neighbouring groupings and arrangements, which made me think about the notion of environment. The next step was to consider the gallery space. I created works intended for multiple showings — installations that were always reconfigured in relation to the setting, appropriating the space.’
Sculptures referring to everyday objects, which were carefully arranged into spatial configurations, sparked both interest and confusion among viewers. The constellation of ‘feminine’ works expanded the definition of sculpture and the visual arts at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Although the exhibition received little critical response at the time, it was a significant statement by woman-artist on social issues, gender stereotypes and inequality.