ATTENTION! CHANGE! The exhibition will take place only on 6 September at the main headquarters of the Caricature Museum at Kozia Street nr 11. The city has decided to close the stairs (renovation) leading to Lengrenówka for 3 months.
[ The cheeky monkeys finally got what they wanted! They are about to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, adoration and admiration! I am happy that on 6-7 September 2025, there will be an exhibition of my monkey collages. And it will be held in the best place in Warsaw – Lengrenówka, the open studio of the Museum of Caricature! ]
OPENING: 6 September at 4 p.m., ul. Kozia 11, Old Town, Warsaw.
PLEASE NOTE! The exhibited works will be available for purchase! There will also be monkey panties for connoisseurs, pins, stickers and T-shirts!
The series ‘What do cheeky monkeys do?’ consists of about 50 illustrations depicting monkeys performing various activities (e.g. building sandcastles, collecting starfish, stealing the moon, picking mushrooms, playing guitar by the fire or catching butterflies).
The images of monkeys were found by the artist in old albums, whose author is, for example, the 18th-century French naturalist and philosopher Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon. The background of the collages always features Polish postcards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The monkey has many meanings and connotations, depending on the culture, era and context. It can symbolise both wisdom and cunning, as well as stupidity, imitation or lust. Some find them funny, others find them astonishing or discouraging. In the Chinese zodiac, the monkey symbolises curiosity about the world, intelligence and creative energy. It is the sign of seekers and explorers, as well as geniuses. The monkey always appears where it can decide for itself, create new
opportunities and shape events. This is also true of the monkeys in these collages. It is not without reason that the artist calls them cheeky monkeys , because they seem to be more than just monkeys, and their old portraits only reinforce this feeling.
The series refers to a popular motif in the art world – singerie (from the French word for ‘monkey’) featuring monkeys dressed in human clothes and imitating human behaviour. In the presented series, however, the monkeys do not want to be humans, they do not wear their clothes. They often do things that humans cannot do. They crunch stars, grab the moon, spray water like whales or walk on rainbows. The monkeys may imitate humans, but they are more daring in these activities. They are not afraid! They do not limit themselves to one cotton candy, they take two, make cherry earrings, swing on giant hyacinths or ride unicorns. They are rascals from whom we can learn a lot.
“This is a very romantic series. They are melancholic and innocent, like big children. Because monkeys are not ancestors, they are human childhood. And the child in man. Monkeys have secrets. They are a bit like clowns, they mimic us a little, and they understand everything a little. And they crunch stars… like cookies… Masterful!” – Dr Justyna Jaworska – lecturer at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw, assistant professor at the Department of Film and Visual Culture at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw.
