NEW YORK, NY.- Pace is presenting The Mother: An Unsavory Monologue, artist Paulina Olowska’s first solo exhibition at the gallery’s 540 West 25th Street space in New York. This multidimensional project, running from February 14 to March 1, 2025, combines painting and durational performance. Staged on the gallery’s seventh floor, which Olowska transformed into an immersive theatrical set, this presentation is a bold reinterpretation of Polish artist, playwright, and theorist Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz’s 1924 play The Mother (Matka).


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Witkiewicz’s surrealist masterpiece challenged conventions of Polish theater and art, and, in the century since its debut, his play has continued to captivate audiences the playwright Jerzy Jarocki famously staged the performance at Kraków’s Stary Theatre in 1964 and 1972, and Olowska presented a critically acclaimed adaptation of the work at London’s Tate Modern in 2015.

Olowska’s latest interpretation of this iconic play will offer a poetic, defiant exploration of maternal archetypes, artistic legacy, and the haunting specter of cultural mythologies. Drawing inspiration from actress Ewa Lassek’s performance as the titular character in Jarocki’s legendary staging in Kraków, Olowska brings a modern, feminist perspective to her upcoming production. Set on the seventh floor of Pace in New York, which features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Chelsea skyline, her performance will showcase three actresses embodying different archetypal roles: Nora Kryst as The Witch, Myfanwy MacLeod as The Artist, and Monika Jac Jagaciak as The Mother. Each day of the exhibition, visitors will encounter a live performance woven into a mise-en-scène that blurs the boundaries between reality and hallucination.

Large-scale portraits of The Mother, inspired by Olowska’s muse Anja Rubik—the Polish model and activist featured on the cover of Art Vogue Polska in November 2018, with artistic direction by Olowska—will frame the set. Informed by photographs by Kacper Kasprzyk, these paintings radiate energy, capturing the layered contradictions of motherhood: strength and fragility, beauty and decay.

The performances at Pace will be accompanied by a printed pamphlet that sheds light on the legacy of Formism, formerly known as Polish Expressionism; Witkiewicz’s radical ideas; and Olowska’s reinterpretation of this historical material through a feminist lens. This pamphlet, produced by Olowska, will serve as both a guide to and an extension of the show, connecting historical contexts to the contemporary concerns that animate the artist’s practice.

The performance schedule for The Mother: An Unsavory Monologue follows below:

Nora Kryst (as The Witch): February 13–18
Myfanwy MacLeod (as The Artist): February 19–22
Monika Jac Jagaciak (as The Mother): February 25–March 1

Born in 1976 in Gdańsk, Poland, Paulina Olowska is an artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, collage, sculpture, video, installation, and performance. She lives and works in Rabka-Zdrój, a small town in southern Poland, where she founded Kadenówka, a creative house and foundation dedicated to revitalizing local traditions and fostering contemporary art practices.

Renowned for her surrealistic figurative paintings, Olowska draws inspiration from feminist histories, literary narratives, and Eastern and Western notions of femininity. Her works challenge and upend conventional art historical depictions of women, exploring themes of strength, fragility, and cultural heritage. Olowska also often references historical figures, including Ewa Lassek, whose legendary portrayal of the titular character in Jerzy Jarocki’s The Mother has influenced her reinterpretations of theatrical performance.

Olowska’s performances are equally layered, bringing together elements of puppetry, costume, acting, and dance. She often draws from poetry, literature, and historical events to create fantastical yet deeply human narratives. Her 2024 projects include Mystic Sugar, her curated booth at Art Basel Paris; Paulina Olowska and Deborah Turbeville: Widows of the Wind at Pace Gallery in Geneva; and Visual Persuasion, a solo exhibition at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo that explored the intersections of consumer imagery and the language of advertising through a feminist lens.


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