Anna Kłos – Innerland
Collage, Artist’s Book, and Other Media
Solo Exhibition
Opening: April 3rd, 2025, at 6:00 PM
University of Warsaw Library, ul. Dobra 56/66
Exhibition Hall, Level 0
Exhibition open until May 18, 2025
Curator: PhD. Magdalena Furmanik-Kowalska
About the Exhibition
The Innerland exhibition presents a broad spectrum of works by Anna Kłos—an artist, graphic designer, and curator. The display focuses on her artistic experiments with collage as a medium. Visitors will have the opportunity to see both her latest works from 2024-2025, in which she explores color and structure, as well as older typographic collages characterized by an austere color palette.
The exhibition also includes selected book cover designs created in collaboration with Bertelsmann Media (2002-2010) and artist’s books, including the latest publication, Innerland, published by the Irish publishing house Redfoxpress.
In addition to collages and artist’s books, visitors will also find other works by Anna Kłos, such as posters, collectible postcards, and artist’s stamps. The exhibition highlights her versatility and consistent engagement with the collage technique, which she has been developing for over 20 years.
About the Artist
Anna Kłos is a graphic artist, academic lecturer, and exhibition curator. She graduated from the Poster Studio of Prof. Julian Pałka and Prof. Mieczysław Wasilewski. In 2007, she defended her doctoral dissertation on Dadaist collage as an inspiration in her artistic practice at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. She teaches graphic design at WIT Academy in Warsaw and is the founder of the Retroavangarda project, dedicated to promoting international art. She has participated in numerous exhibitions both in Poland and abroad and has served as a juror for prestigious international graphic design competitions.
Taking a deep breath in the noise of reality. About Anna Kłos’s collages
When today we are being overwhelmingly attacked by intense stimuli – saturated strong colours, a cacophony of sounds, disharmony of shapes in public spaces, often mindless rush in an undefined direction – we lack space and time to take a deep breath. A breath that allows us to stop for a moment, to reflect; a time when we can be with ourselves. Such respite in today’s noisy world can be made possible by the collages by Anna Kłos.
The works composed by the artist are made in a technique that was developed in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century along with Dadaism. However, their message and aesthetics differ from the anarchist artists, who rejected any order and harmony associated with traditional art, and whose material was technological innovations and current events. Kłos’ collages have an opposite message. The artist creates images from memories, fleeting impressions. From the past, which she interweaves with the present. The artist is inspired by old family photos she finds, fragments of books from the previous century, press clippings from 50 years ago, letters written in beautiful handwriting, sheet music, illustrations from nature books… and many, many other precious finds. They are brought together not because of their content, but because of their visual form – the beauty of the letters or the colour of the paper. Harmonious compositions are created in a way that is pleasing to the eye, gentle in expression, calming, yet… our brains, accustomed to an excess of verbal, sound and visual stimuli, do not give us a break, they look for hidden meanings and possible interpretations in them. They read individual words and whole sentences. Stop! Let us savour the sophisticated colour combinations, the order of the shapes, the compatibility of incompatible forms. Then we will experience a deep breath, an encounter with ourselves in the eponymous inner space.
Anna Kłos has consistently been composing her collages for 20 years. Sometimes they have miniature forms, sometimes they take on large-format sizes. Regardless of their size, they are an amazing encounter that allows you to come to a halt in the modern rush. Although they sometimes address difficult issues related to identity and ontological questions concerning the essence of art, they never shout or impose one correct answer on the viewer. They do ask questions, but in a gentle way, teasing and whispering in the ear, or rather in the eye. Experiencing them is a haptic pleasure, as they attract more than just the sense of sight. Their rich texture makes us want to feel the materiality of the fragments they are composed of under our fingers. Pieces and fragments that carry the memory of the past. Anna Kłos’ art allows us to take a deep breath, to pause, to allow ourselves a moment of reflection and tranquillity. It does not have to shout to be meaningful.
PhD Magdalena Furmanik-Kowalska