Last updated: 28 October 2026
Helena Minginowicz is the Polish artist behind soft, airbrushed paintings of bodies, flowers and animals on canvas, paper towels and plastic bags. Here you will find our take on her work, where to see Helena Minginowicz now, how to buy a painting, and her small blurred portrait in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Helena Minginowicz
Minginowicz paints with an airbrush, so there are no brushstrokes at all. Her images look like adverts or phone photos, but something in each one is slightly out of place. She often paints on things made to be thrown away, such as paper towels, tissues and plastic bags. “We want to be like canvas, but we are much more like a paper towel, not because we are worth less, but because we are finite,” she says in the text for her current Paris show, published by Galerie Prima.
Her War Child piece, Wildfire, is acrylic on canvas. A child’s face fills almost the whole panel, with the eyes closed and every feature melted into a soft blur. At the edges, a turquoise sky shows through, with tiny dark birds and a small orange flame low on the right. One little bird even sits on the left eyelid, so the closer you look, the more you find.
Her subjects are always real people, often herself. “Fiction is something that does not resonate with me at all,” she told Metal in 2024. She is now on her second solo show in Paris and showed in London at Shoreditch Modern in 2024, so this small lot is an easy way into a painter with a growing European following.
Helena Minginowicz: the essentials
- Born in Poznań, Poland, in 1984, where she still lives and works, according to Galerie Prima.
- Graduated in 2011 from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of Arts in Poznań.
- A finalist in the Bielska Jesień 2023 painting biennial at BWA Bielska Gallery in Bielsko-Biała.
- Uses an airbrush to build smooth, blurred images, and paints on paper towels, tissues, sheet masks and plastic bags as well as canvas.
- Solo shows include Wounds and Wonders at Galerie Prima, Paris (2025), and Ask your hands to know the things they hold at Galeria Lotna, Warsaw (2025).
- Her artist’s CV lists works in the NADINE Collection, Madrid, and the ROSSMANN Art Collection, Germany.
- Represented by Galerie Prima, Paris.
Where to see Helena Minginowicz now
- Now, until 14 November: Out of Order (solo), Galerie Prima, Paris, 8 October to 14 November 2026.
- Coming up: Sound & Vision 2026, a War Child charity auction online from 27 October to 12 November 2026, with the works on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, 6 to 8 November. The piece is Wildfire (2026), acrylic on canvas, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page.
- Ask your hands to know the things they hold (solo), Galeria Lotna, Warsaw, 19 September to 31 October 2025, listed by UntitledDb.
- Wounds and Wonders (solo), Galerie Prima, Paris, 16 May to 21 June 2025.
- Disturbing Darlings (group), Shoreditch Modern, London, 18 October to 16 November 2024.
How to buy a Helena Minginowicz painting
There are no Helena Minginowicz prints on sale at the moment. These are the ways to buy her work:
- Wildfire, 2026: a small acrylic on canvas in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- Paintings and works on paper towel: through Galerie Prima, Paris, price on request. The new works from Out of Order are on its site.
Helena Minginowicz FAQs
Which gallery represents Helena Minginowicz?
Galerie Prima in Paris, which has given her two solo shows, in 2025 and 2026.
How does Helena Minginowicz make her paintings?
She uses an airbrush, which removes visible brushstrokes and gives her images their soft, photographic blur. She paints on canvas and on disposable materials such as paper towels and plastic bags.
Can I buy a Helena Minginowicz print?
Not at the moment. Her paintings are sold through Galerie Prima, and her small canvas Wildfire is in the War Child auction until 12 November 2026.
Where can I see Helena Minginowicz’s work in London?
Her War Child piece, Wildfire, is on view at Iconic Images Gallery from 6 to 8 November 2026.
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Main image: Helena Minginowicz in her studio. Photo: © Rafał Owczarski, courtesy Galerie Prima. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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