CHECK SLOVAKIA! (YOUNG ART FROM SLOVAKIA)
Place:
Koloman Sokol Gallery, Embassy of the Slovak Republic,
3523 International Court N.W, Washington, D.C., USA
Dates:
March 9, 2005 – May 5, 2005
Organizers:
Embassy of Slovak Republic in Washington in cooperation with the Jan
Koniarek Gallery in
Trnava, Slovakia
Artists:
Erik Binder
Cyril Blazo
Tomas Agat Blonski
Pavlina Fichta Cierna
Bohdan Hostinak
Martin Kollar
Ilona Nemeth
Milan Tittel
Emoke Vargova
Curator:
Viera Jancekova, director of the Jan Koniarek Gallery in Trnava, Slovakia
Catalogue:
published by Jan Koniarek Gallery and Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin
with financial support of Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic
After the successful presentation in Berlin, Germany (May/June 2004), the exhibition Check Slovakia! is now on show in the USA, at Koloman Sokol Gallery (Slovak Embassy in Washington, D.C., www.slovakembassy-us.org/news).
At a time when political alliance between Slovakia
and United States became even stronger through the hosting of the recent summit
in Bratislava (www.slovakiasummit.com),
we felt that the time had come to strengthen connections on the cultural
level as well. While many Americans became aware of Slovakia for the first time
during the media’s coverage of the summit, many in the United States still do
not realize that we are separate from the Czech Republic since 1993. Though the
use of contemporary art, we felt that the American public would not only begin
to see Slovakia as an independent country, but as one fully committed to being a
part of a dynamic globally interdependent community in politics, economics and
the arts. The exhibition gives an interesting excursion into a young art scene
and that it brings meaning to the English word check; that is, ‘to confront,
compare, explore and revise’… in this case to the state of contemporary art
of this young European country.
Art in Slovakia does not form a homogenous stream and
thus the aim of the exhibition is to present works that reflect the diversity of
the actual art scene. This polyphony of voices is expressed through the
utilization of different media and the diversity of our approaches ranging from
graphic art (presented by Bohdan Hostinak), manipulated photography (Cyril Blazo),
eloquent documentary shots of the ambient reality of Martin Kollar and the black
and white compositions of Tomas Agat Blonski), video (Pavlina Fichta Cierna),
object (Milan Tittel), site-specific installations or its documentation by Erik
Binder and Emoke Vargova or the large print as a part of the artwork of Ilona
Nemeth. The works’ attitudes and perspectives range from playful or even
slightly sarcastic comments on our current era to grave allusions about our
contemporary society. Some of the works reflect the social or political
situation in their country of origin, some show that the artist’s interest in
this issue is only marginal and that their concerns are more globalised in
nature.
The exhibition was originally prepared by
Viera Jancekova, the director of the Jan Koniarek Gallery in Trnava, Slovakia (www.gjk.sk)
in collaboration with Alexander Tolnay, director of the Neuer Berliner
Kunstverein in Berlin, Germany (www.nbk.org)
where it was also shown for the first time in 2004.
For
Koloman Sokol Gallery tours, please, contact:
Ms.
Stella Kukuckova, stella@slovakembassy-us.org