Ewokują monstra rozkładu”. Ogólnopolska Wystawa Młodej Plastyki „Przeciw wojnie – przeciw faszyzmowi

The article’s point of departure is an exhibition from 1955, popularly known as the ‘Arsenal’, which holds an impor - tant place in Polish art historiography. The showing was a forum where discussions reflecting the then current cul- tural policy of the state’s authorities were intensified and superimposed with individual attitudes of artists towards this cultural policy of the state and with reminiscences of the wartime past. The present analysis focuses mainly on the phenomenon of expressive figuration that has been much discussed in literature dealing with the ‘Arsenal’ and sparked numerous polemics. An aspect rarely exam- ined by scholars dealing with the ‘Arsenal’, namely, a ref- erence to historical, cultural and political conditions that had shaped the reception of expressive figuration in Ger - many, the ‘homeland of expressionism’ – and a country that at that time had served as an important point of ref- erence for Poland’s identity – allows for viewing the pres- entation of Polish artists at the ‘Arsenal’ in a broader com- parative context of the post-war ‘controversy of images’