ATELIER 10

† Michaela Polacek 1972 - 2026
It is with great sadness that we must inform you that Michaela Polacek passed away during the night of June 18, following a short and serious illness.
Michaela Polacek was a draughtswoman, and as such she possessed an extraordinary talent. How else can one explain the fascination her work exerted on so many different people, from art professionals to the general public? How else can one describe her nature? Until the age of thirty, she had barely come into contact with art, yet she was able to develop an artistic presence of remarkable intensity almost instantly.
She began drawing in 2002 at the open studio in Gugging. There, she initially created small-format, reduced yet irresistibly absurd narrative drawings. With the opening of Atelier 10, she moved her workplace. In fact, she was the very first artist to work here. More precisely still, she was already drawing in Atelier 10 while it was still a construction site.
From 2012 onwards, her artistic development seemed almost explosive. One intense creative phase followed another. Her formats grew ever larger, her technique increasingly complex. The art world took notice. Curators exhibited her work, and collectors acquired it.
Michaela’s long-expressed wish to be shown in a major museum was fulfilled only this year, and in fact twice. Several of her large-scale works are currently part of the exhibition „Lebt und arbeitet in Wien“ at the Kunsthalle Wien in the MuseumsQuartier. From November onwards, further works will be presented at the Museum Gugging.
For us, Michaela leaves behind a painful human absence. Her personality and life story became inseparably intertwined with those of Atelier 10.
Yet perhaps it is precisely this year that the most valuable aspect of her immense artistic radiance becomes visible: she succeeded in inspiring specialists from fields that are still too often treated separately. Those working in contemporary art, and those working in Art Brut/Outsider Art.
What does it say about the reasonableness of such boundaries when both sides can agree so passionately on the value of the same art?
❤️Dear Michi, we salute you.

Aid Ragipovic / Erotic Steaming Machinery
Guest-Artist @ ATELIER 10
Acrylics on paper
.ragipovic