The works of Walerian Borowczyk (1923-2006), a Polish artist considered to be among the greatest auteurs of 1960-70s erotic cinema, are on display in the Centre of Contemporary art in Warsaw. The exhibition gives an overview of Borowczyk's artistic heritage, challenging a common preconception that he exclusively produced adult-themed content.

The exhibition brings the figure of Borowczyk closer to Polish viewers. For most of his life the artist worked abroad and his oeuvre is better known to Western European viewers than to his fellow Poles.

Alongside a selection of Borowczyk's films, visitors can see a large collection of graphic art, drawings and items used to create animated films. Most of these are on loan from the ChČteau d'Annecy museum in France, which purchased the works from the artist in 1977. Other parts of the exhibition were borrowed from the National Museum in Poznań as well as private collections.

A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Borowczyk made his first animated films as a student. He achieved notoriety as a filmmaker in the 1950s with the films Był sobie raz (Once Upon a Time, 1957) and Dom (House, 1958). In fact, the relatively unknown works from that period may be most intriguing for the foreign viewer, explained the curator of the exhibition, Urszula Œniegowska.

"Borowczyk's early works reflect the same aesthetics and the themes visible in his later movies," she commented.

Apart from the erotic, Borowczyk's art are full of humor, grotesquery and surrealism, stressed Œniegowska.

The exhibition is on display at the Centre for Contemporary Art at Al. Ujazdowskie 6 until March 30. For more information log on to www.csw.art.pl