Joanna Pilarczyk "Solace"
Joanna Pilarczyk "Solace" 2025
Painting, Oil and acrylic
Dimensions: 12 x 12 inches
Unique
Signed on Verso, Includes a Certificate of Authenticity
Joanna Pilarczyk is a London-based contemporary figurative painter. Born in Poland, Pilarczyk studied at the Art University in Zielona Gora, where she earned a Master's degree in Visual Arts and Art Education.
Pilarczyk's artistic talent has earned her recognition and accolades. She was recently shortlisted for the Guildford House Open 2025 and the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery. She also won the Boynes Monthly Artist Award [November 2024], the third time the jury awarded her painting in the 'colour' category. In 2023, Joanna was a finalist for the International Fikva Award for Figurative Painters, and in 2022 and 2021, she was a finalist for the Women United Art Prize.
Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at prestigious venues like the Royal Society of Arts, Mall Galleries at the Women in Art Fair, Start Art Fair at Saatchi Gallery and the Other Art Fair at Truman Brewery, London. Additionally, she showcased her newest paintings at a solo show with Oink Gallery, featuring pieces from her 'My Paradise' series. Joanna actively participated in the Spring and Summer editions of the Other Art Fair in 2022 – 2024.
Her artworks have crossed international borders, with her paintings from the 'My Paradise' series exhibited at the Superfine Art Fair in Times Square, New York and a solo show on Artsy curated by the Untitled Space Gallery. The works from the 'Intimate Times' series were exhibited at 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago, Mixx Atelier Gallery in Telluride, USA, and Kunstbehandlung Gallery in Munich, Germany.
She has participated in exhibitions including A Gogo III and Forever After? at Mash Gallery in Los Angeles, Modern Female at 33 Contemporary Gallery in Palm Beach, and Uprise 2025 – The Art of Resistance at the Untitled Space Gallery, New York. Most recently, she is part of Women-Led Galleries Now on Artsy with the Untitled Space Gallery and Venus Reclaimed at 33 Contemporary, both celebrating Women’s History Month.
Artist Statement:
Joanna Pilarczyk's paintings pay tribute to modern portraiture and contemporary figurative art by combining figures of her models with vibrant, clean, abstract shapes, geometric patterns and lush green foliage.
Born in Poland in a post-Soviet country where everything seemed plain and uninspiring, she remembers her first glimpses of Western culture appearing on TV, which sparked her fascination with the multicultural world.
Years later, after moving to London and encountering these unknown, exotic places and people of many cultures, she began to be significantly influenced by them.
Captivated by the vibrancy of paint, Pilarczyk uses a mixture of clashing colours, blending neon acrylics and oils to create sensual and striking portraits of acquaintances and friends within the community of North London. Her romantic compositions explore themes of relationships, self-awareness and acceptance. They convey melancholy and stillness, capturing a moment where the subjects are simply resting and free of responsibility.
In her recent work, Pilarczyk portrays mixed-race and gay couples and women of colour. To create these portraits, the artist discusses marginalised communities with her friends and models, delving into their experiences, love stories, and struggles related to racism, sexuality, and cultural diversity. She aims to give a voice to people seeking acceptance within their community.
Through these intimate portrayals, she also confronts the historical exclusion of Black bodies, LGBTQ+ relationships, and interracial couples from the artistic canon. While mainstream media and consumer culture have superficially embraced diversity, true representation in fine art remains rare. Pilarczyk’s paintings reclaim space for these individuals, affirming their presence and dignity in a world where their stories have often been erased or sidelined.
Her subjects are not passive figures but active, central forces in her compositions. Whether capturing the resilience of Black women, the quiet tenderness of same-sex relationships, or the layered identities of immigrants navigating new realities, Pilarczyk challenges societal perceptions and celebrates the beauty of diversity. In a political climate where hard-fought civil rights are under renewed threat, her work stands as an act of resistance, demanding recognition, visibility, and equality.