Being an artist: a profession or a vocation? Socially engaged art by Joanna Rajkowska

Abstract

The problem of the condition of artists in Poland is rarely addressed in public debate, which is particularly surprising in the world of growing disproportion between rapid development of the art market (the number of galleries, rising prices of auctioning) and still financially unstable and difficult situation of artists. The paper attempts to look at the economic and social status of Polish artists through the analysis of the artistic work of a Polish artist Joanna Rajkowska who tries to find her position in the socio-economic system, without giving up her creative activity. At the end of the paper the author will try to answer the question whether socially engaged art can bring about major changes in the system of financing art.