Iwona DEMKO (1974), Catalan Proverb from the series Pink Square on White Background; 2022

Satin, canvas, patchwork on primed canvas; 80 x 80
Signed on back: Iwona Demko/ Author's sticker

Iwona Demko, one of the most distinctive figures of the Polish art scene, went from being the so-called "pink sheep" of the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow to becoming a candidate for the rector of her alma mater in 2020. Since 2008, she has been a research and teaching employee of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. In 2012, she received the title of dr. of fine arts in the artistic discipline "fine arts." In 2016, she received the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts. To date, she has participated in more than 160 exhibitions at home and abroad. She has presented her works at, among others, the National Museum in Poznań, the Center for Contemporary Art "Łaźnia" in Gdańsk, the Center for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow. Curator of feminist exhibitions. Initiator and organizer of the "Year of Women with ASP". Scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the continuation of research on the first female students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. She creates objects, installations, site-specific works, videos, works in the Internet space.

In Catalonia there is a saying: La mar es posa bona si veu el cony d'una dona - The sea calms down when it sees a woman's vulva. Before Catalans went fishing, their wives would bare their genitals to the sea to ensure their husbands' happiness. Indian women of Madras (the country's western province) were able to subdue dangerous storms by exposing themselves. First-century historian Pliny wrote in his Natural History that the sight of a naked woman silences and tames hailstorms, tornadoes and lightning.
The proverb refers to the ancient act of Ana-suromai (Anasyrma).