Views 2017 is the eighth edition of the competition for young artists, organised by Deutsche Bank Polska S.A. and Zachęta – National Gallery of Art. The committee led by painter Paulina Ołowska selected five finalists. Participating in this year’s Views are artists born between 1984 and 1987, representing various regions of Poland, whose art is linked by a shared interest in humanity — both in the individual, as well as in the social perspective.

Ewa Axelrad has lived and worked in London and Gliwice (Poland), for many years. She creates installations, photographs, videos and sculptural objects. One of the recurring motifs in her works is violence observed in interpersonal and social relationships, and above all, its manifestations in everyday objects or architectural systems. Przemek Branas uses performance, video and installations in his works — combining biographical themes with symbols. He is interested in crossing boundaries marked by the body, culture and social functioning mechanisms. Agata Kus is primarily a painter, although she works with the medium of video as well. She paints mainly people. Her paintings are characterised by a simultaneous multiplicity of narratives bonded into one composition, their non-obviousness and ambiguity. She plays with form, using painting collages, pseudo-cut-outs, elements pasted in or crossed out and destruction. Honorata Martin, working and living in Gdańsk, is a multimedia artist, painter and performer. She is known for the radicalism of her actions and her search for the boundaries of physical and mental endurance. She studies extreme situations and the strong emotions that accompany the overcoming of one’s own fears. Łukasz Surowiec is an interdisciplinary artist and author of social actions. He is interested in political and historical interpersonal relations, but also the body and its borders. He practices socially engaged art — he works with marginalised people and initiates processes that often reveal the most uncomfortable problems.

The curator of this year’s exhibition is Dorota Monkiewicz — a long-time curator of contemporary art at the National Museum in Warsaw, author of the concept and director of the Wrocław Contemporary Museum (until 2016). She is currently associated with the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko.

The competition exhibition at Zachęta will start on the 8^th of September 2017. The winners will be announced on the 26^th of October. The winner will receive a prize of 60 000 PLN (15 000 Euro) and the second place prize is a study trip to Villa Romana in Florence. Traditionally, an audience award will also be presented.

The Views – Deutsche Bank Award competition, held every two years (since 2003) is a project aimed at supporting the development of young Polish art. Thanks to this initiative, we can honour the most interesting artistic positions and promote the best artists of the young generation in Poland and abroad.