Małgorzata Turewicz Lafranchi is a visual artist. Born in Poland, since 1994 she has lived and worked in

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

in the

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

canton of Switzerland.

Biography

Lafranchi was born 25 April 1961 in

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

, Poland. From 1980 to 1985 she studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

under

Andrzej Dłużniewski Andrzej Dluzniewski (3 August 1939 – 16 December 2012) was considered one of the greatest contemporary Polish sculptors. He died in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in ...

and Henryk Wiśniewski. She graduated with distinction with a thesis on festive rites and ceremonies and between 1985 and 1986 Lafranchi continued her studies at the

Goetheanum The Goetheanum, located in Dornach, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland, is the world center for the Anthroposophy, anthroposophical movement. The term refers to two structures, the first was in use 1919 to 1922 and destroyed by fire; the sec ...

in Dornach, Switzerland. Her debut show organized in 1988 by Andrzej Bonarski at the SARP gallery in Warsaw. Her first sculptures shown in 1990 in the Dziekanka Gallery in Warsaw (now in the collection of "

Pinakothek der Moderne The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's '' Kunstareal''. The building Designed by German architect Stephan Braunfels, the Pinakothek der Moderne was inaugurated in Se ...

", Munich) anticipated tendencies in modern sculpture. In the early 1990s she received several grants in Austria (Lenz Schönberg Collection), Spain (Ministry of Culture), and Germany (by

Rosemarie Trockel Rosemarie Trockel (born 13 November 1952) is a German conceptual artist. She has made drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos and installations, and has worked in mixed media. From 1985, she made pictures using knitting-machines. She is a pro ...

), Poland ( with Marek Kijewski, Konstrukcja w Procesie, Lodz), Center of Polish Sculpture, Oronsko and Switzerland (Artest). Between 2002 and 2004 she contributed to the

Peter Zumthor Peter Zumthor (; born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm and not being a prolific architect, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Pri ...

studio on Accademia di Archittetura in Mendrisio. From 2009 to 2011 Lafranchi undertook research for the project "Seduction as Art". Originally planned as a PhD thesis by Walter Kugler at the "Social Sculpture Unit",

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

, it was finalised independently as an exhibition called "The Shell Collector". In her art she often deals in ironic and playfully ways with scientific and philosophical concepts, giving them new connotations. Typical for Lafranchi's sculptures is the use of quite insignificant industrial materials in a minimalistic, reductive manner that nevertheless gives way to complex associations. 1994 she married Fiorenzo Lafranchi, a Swiss editor and educator, and in 1995 their son Olek was born.

Exhibitions

Lafranchi has participated in numerous solo and group shows including the National Museum Szczecin, Facultad de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw, Turku Museum of Art, Finland, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Center of Polish Sculpture, Oronsko, NGBK, Berlin, Museo Cantonale d‘Arte, Lugano, Trinitatiskirche, Köln, Hangar Biccoca, Milano, Pinacoteca Casa Rusca, Locarno, Museo d‘Arte, Lugano, Palastmuseum Wilanów, Art Stations, Poznan, Mazovian Center of Contemporary Art, "Elektrownia", Radom, and Salon Akademii She also showed her works in the galleries BWA Szczecin, BWA Bialystok, BWA Lublin, Dziekanka Gallery, Warsaw, Zderzak Gallery, Cracow, Visarte Gallery Locarno, Zona Sztuki Aktualnej, Szczecin, Propaganda Gallery Warsaw, Galleria Daniele Agostini, Lugano. Lafranchi also participated in AVE Videofestival, Arnhem, Holland, in different projects with "Art for the World", Delhi, India, Bex & Arts, Bex, Switzerland and in Rassegna di arte pubblica Morcote.

Collections

Her works are in various collections, including the Academy of Fine Arts‘ Museum in Warsaw, Bonarski Collection, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Mazovian Center of Contemporary Art „Elektrownia“, Radom, Museo Cantonale d‘Arte, Lugano, Museo Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, National Museum in Szczecin, Pinakothek der Moderne, Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, München, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw and in many private collections.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafranchi, Malgorzata Turewicz 1961 births Living people 20th-century Polish women artists 21st-century Polish women artists 21st-century Polish artists Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw alumni Artists from Szczecin