A Few Words About My Work
Every painting begins with something that lingers in my mind.
Sometimes it is the light outside my studio window. A blossoming cherry tree or the changing colours of the evening sky can make me pause for a moment and quietly ask to become a painting.
Portraits begin differently. They grow out of a person—a conversation, a shared memory, or a photograph that preserves a fleeting moment. I often work from photographs. They allow me to return to a moment that has already passed. The real painting begins only after I put the photograph aside and allow memory to take over.
Whether I paint a person or a place, I always begin in the same way: by looking patiently and allowing enough time for what is before me to reveal itself. I am not searching for extraordinary subjects. I am drawn to what is easily overlooked, yet remains in our memory long after the moment has passed.
When I paint portraits, I look for more than likeness. The smallest details matter to me because they tell a story: a favourite toy, a well-loved book, or clothes worn in everyday life. Over time, these ordinary objects become part of a family’s history. A portrait preserves not only a face but also a fragment of the world that surrounded that person.
I paint in oils because the medium allows me to work slowly. It gives me time to observe, to simplify, and to discover what I did not notice at first. I do not paint what I see in the first glance. I paint what stays with me.
If my paintings encourage someone to pause for a moment, to look more closely, or to discover within them something of their own memories and experience, I feel they have fulfilled their purpose.
Biography
Monika Malinowska (born 1976) is a Polish painter and portrait artist, and a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. She has been working primarily in oil painting for more than twenty years. Portraiture occupies a central place in her practice, alongside her own painterly series exploring places and everyday life. Her work grows out of close observation of people and the natural world. It is held in private and institutional collections in Poland and abroad.
She lives and works in Węgrzce, near Kraków.
Selected Institutional Collections
- University Children’s Hospital in Kraków
- Museum of Pharmacy in Kraków
- Diocesan Archives in Tarnów
- Poznań University of Economics and Business
- Private collections in Poland and abroad
Selected Exhibitions
2026 – TOP ART 2026, Derby Artystyczne, Public Library, Chrzanów, Poland
2025 – Portrait vs. Landscape. Paintings and Sketches, solo exhibition, Folwark Kultura Gallery, Owczary, Poland
2024 – Making a Mark, Palazzo Maffei Marescotti, Rome, Italy
2024 – From Nature, solo exhibition, Derby Artystyczne, Kraków, Poland
2019 – Portrait, Association of Polish Portrait Artists, Łódź, Poland
2010 – Professor Stanisław Wejman and His Students, Consulate General of Germany, Kraków, Poland
2004 – Solo exhibition, Skovhuset Gallery, Værløse, Denmark
2002 – 2nd International Miniature Biennale, Częstochowa, Poland
2001 – Landscape in Contemporary Painting, competition exhibition, Bielsko-Biała, Poland
2001 – Academy of Fine Arts Diploma Exhibition, Palace of Art, Kraków, Poland
Awards and Distinctions
2024 – Talent Award, 9th Landscape, TERAVARNA Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2023 – Merit Award, Faces, Art Room Gallery
2002 – First Prize in Illustration, awarded by FLN magazine; the winning work was published in the magazine.
2001 – Third Prize, National Student Competition Landscape in Contemporary Painting, Bielsko-Biała, Poland
2001 – APT Medal, Premio Agazzi International Printmaking Competition, Bergamo, Italy
2001 – Second Honourable Mention, 1st Marian Michalak National Competition for Young Painters, Częstochowa, Poland
Artistic Projects and Activities
2024–2026 – Participant in the Derby Artystyczne Interregional Programme promoting contemporary Polish painting; collaboration with the DelArte Institute on artistic projects.
2023 – The painting Wild Virginia Creeper was featured in Beauty in the City Frame, a concert by New York pianist and composer Margin Aleksander. An original musical composition inspired by the painting was premiered during the performance and broadcast online.
Since 2018 – Art workshops for residents of the Zielonki Municipality, initially conducted independently and later co-led with local artists as part of the Artystyczne Węgrzce group.
Bibliography
Publications
2016 – Justyna Stasiek-Hrabin, Children in Painting – Several Well-Known Examples, La Minerva blog.
2023 – Łucja Lewandowska, The Portrait of Personality. On the Meaning of Portraits, Trendy Designu. Architektura i Sztuka, No. 44/2023.
2023 – ArtAscent International Art Magazine, Portraits, Issue 57 (reproduction).
Exhibition Catalogues
2020 – Portrait – exhibition catalogue of the Association of Polish Portrait Artists.
2014 – Kraków Art Expo – art fair catalogue.
2010 – Professor Stanisław Wejman and His Students – exhibition catalogue.
2003 – Fyns Grafiske Værksted – exhibition catalogue, Odense, Denmark.
2001 – 1st Marian Michalak National Competition for Young Painters – competition catalogue.
2001 – 2nd International Miniature Biennale – exhibition catalogue.
2001 – Premio Agazzi – competition exhibition catalogue, Bergamo, Italy.
2000 – Landscape in Contemporary Painting – competition exhibition catalogue.
Events and news:
Announcement of Monika Malinowska’s exhibition “Portrait vs. Landscape” at the Folwark Kultura Gallery in Owczary
Interview with Monika Malinowska in Olkusz on 05.12.2024
1.06- 15.08. 2024 Wystawa malarstwa & fotografii ” Dzieciaki IV” ( edycja jubileuszowa), w Miejskiej Bibliotece Publicznej w Chrzanowie, zorganizowana przez Międzyregionalny Program ” Derby Artystyczne ‘2024″.
8.11-31-12 2024 Exhibition of paintings by Monika Malinowska – “From Nature”, in the Municipal Public Library in Chrzanów, as part of the Interregional Program “Artistic Derby 2024” (anniversary edition). The exhibition has been extended until December 31
6-10 December 2023 My painting ” Inter canum et lupum” had been included in a video display curated by Circle Foundation for the Arts at Red Dot Miami Art Fair in USA, Artavita and World Wide Art, Booth 100
20.02. 2019 Uroczyste odsłonięcie namalowanego przeze mnie portretu prof. Bogusława Halikowskiego, w Auli Uniwersyteckiego Szpitala Dziecięcego
w Krakowie, podczas 43. Konferencji Naukowej ” Spotkanie Chirurgów Dziecięcych z Pediatrami”
12.10. 2018 r, Łódź. III Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Tadeusza Kościuszki
Uroczyste odsłonięcie namalowanego przeze mnie portretu Radzisława Olbrychowskiego,
Dyrektora liceum w latach 1979-1991.
http://trzecieliceum.pl/
9-11 V 2014 r.
Udział jako wystawca
w Targach Sztuki Art Expo 2014 w Dworze w Tomaszowicach.
07-08.12.2013 r.
Udział jako wystawca
w Targach Młodej Sztuki “Sztukobranie”
Sale balowe Pałacu pod Baranami w Krakowie
Wręczenie Portretu Dr. Krzysztofa Kmiecia
17 marca 2012 r. Oficjalne przekazania portretu Dr n. farm. Krzysztofa Kmiecia ( 1950- 2011) na ręce Dyrekcji Muzeum Farmacji w Krakowie.
Miałam zaszczyt uczestniczyć w tym uroczystym wydarzeniu.
Wręczenie obrazu na zamku Merode
Belgia, sierpień 2009 r. Wręczenie akwareli mojego autorstwa przez delegację Krakowskiego Bractwa Kurkowego na zamku Merode,
na Europejskich Spotkaniach Strzelców Historycznych