"In the Shadow" Painting

Joanna Pilarczyk is a London-based contemporary figurative painter. Born in Poland, she studied at the Art University in Zielona Góra, earning a Master’s degree in Visual Arts and Art Education.
Her work has received international recognition, including recently winning the Young Masters Mentorship Award from Cynthia Valianti Corbett and Sadie Clayton during the Women in Art Fair 2026. She was shortlisted for the Guildford House Open 2025 and the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2025. She is a recipient of the Boynes Monthly Artist Award (November 2024) and has been a finalist for the International FiKVA Award for Figurative Painters (2023) and the Women United Art Prize (2022, 2021).
Pilarczyk has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, with presentations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Telluride, Munich, and Palm Beach.
Recent exhibitions include Women-Led Galleries Now on Artsy with the Untitled Space Gallery and Venus Reclaimed at 33 Contemporary Gallery, both celebrating Women’s History Month.
Her practice is rooted in contemporary figurative painting, combining the human figure with vibrant abstract forms, geometric patterns, and lush botanical elements.
Influenced by her move from post-Soviet Poland to multicultural London, Pilarczyk explores themes of identity, relationships, and belonging. Working primarily with oil and neon acrylics, she creates expressive, sensual portraits of people from her community.
Her work focuses particularly on women of colour, mixed-race and same-sex couples, often developed through conversations with her subjects about their lived experiences. These intimate portrayals challenge historical exclusions within the artistic canon and aim to offer visibility and dignity to underrepresented voices.
Through colour, composition, and gesture, Pilarczyk captures moments of stillness and emotional connection, where her subjects appear unguarded and present. Her paintings celebrate diversity while engaging with broader social and cultural narratives, positioning portraiture as both a personal exchange and a form of quiet resistance.