Lightbox Launch Party: "Familiar Strangers" Exhibition
Join us for the launch party of an unforgettable exhibition on Thursday, 6th February!
When: Thursday 6th February | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: Kiosk N1C, Lower Stable Street, King’s Cross, N1C 4DR
Celebrate the opening of Familiar Strangers: Hollywood and British Cinema in Polish Poster Art, an exhibition showcasing the iconic work of Polish poster artists. Running from 3rd February - 2nd April 2025 on the Lightboxes of Lower Stable Street, this powerful display reveals the ways in which Polish artists skilfully and playfully reinterpreted American and UK cinema while navigating - and subtly critiquing - the harsh realities of Communist and post Soviet Poland.
The exhibition gives viewers a chance to see this powerful collection of film posters in their natural outdoor setting and in March, digital versions of select posters will also be on view at the Samsung KX flagship store, just moments from the exhibition at Coal Drops Yard.
Blending humour and raw intensity, these posters reflect the psychological landscape of a society shaped by repression. Audiences familiar with these cinematic classics will be confronted with unexpected perspectives; you will never look at Star Wars, Working Girl or The Shining the same way again.
Created by Polish School of Posters members, these works subtly rebelled against the Communist regime that tasked them with reinterpreting Hollywood and British films and many other Western movies for Polish audiences. Though expected to produce art reinforcing Soviet ideology, these designers used their craft to critique authority—one powerful image at a time—capturing the nation’s intensity, rawness, and psychological state behind the Iron Curtain.
Surreal yet classically beautiful, humorous yet unsettling, this exhibition explores how the alien can feel familiar and how a single, powerful image can make the prohibited desirable. It celebrates the individuality, wit, and vision of the artists of the Polish Poster School who defied expectations, challenged the system with their confidence and talent, and left a lasting impact on film poster art for generations to come.
This exhibition is part of this year's KINOTEKA festival - for more information visit https://kinoteka.org.uk/
