EXHIBITION PROPOSALS 2023
16. 11. 2022 – 27. 3. 2023
SUPERHEROES
An interpretation of the theme of heroes in a wider historical and cultural context in selected works by 24 artists from the Gallery’s collection ranging from the late 19th century to the present day. The exhibition also features works by three foreign artists (CZ, EE, DE) and is presented in three associated cycles: Heroes in the Spotlight, Heroes at the Borderline and Personal Superheroes.
Collection id dialogue cycle.
Curator: Katarína Balúnová – GUS.
FROM MIMESIS TO HYPERREALITY. ACQUISITIONS IN INTERACTION II., 2017 – 2021
The educational exhibition presents the work of 21 artists and 35 artworks from the collection which are grouped according to three themes (Face to Face, Biomorphic Forms and Photographic Experimentation, Industry) and five active interactions. The 35 selected works represent the 35 years of the Gallery’s existence.
Collection cycle.
Curator: Kamila Paceková – GUS.
CENTENARIES
The exhibition offers a re-evaluation of the works of “centenarian” artists from the Gallery’s collection, seeking out genres, thematic links and also parallels from the archives.
Honourees cycle.
Curators: Mária Šabľová, Kamila Paceková – GUS.
5. 4. – 16. 7. 2023
SOME GREEN RECORDINGS FROM AN OVERSIZED BLACK BOX
Artists: Barbara Lucilla Benish (CZ / USA), Silvia Krupinská (SK / UK), Agáta Marzecová (SK / EE), Lucie Mičíková (CZ), Kristina and Marek Milde (CZ / USA), Dagmar Šubrtová (CZ), Magda Tothova (SK / DE), Monika Vrancová (SK), Zdena Kolečková (CZ), Elena Martí Manzanares (ES), Denise Spriggs (UK / GR) and others
The title of the exhibition refers to a series of specific ecological art projects and efforts during a period in which the natural environment is suffering mass destruction. In a metaphorical sense, the black box represents our entire planet which mercilessly preserves an indelible record of each of our actions. The black box is a coffin, but it is also a utopian version of Malevich’s Black Square, a cosmological future with a question mark (à la Julius Koller). The black square / box can be either the death or the rebirth of the world and art; it might even (but not necessarily) represent the end point of our insatiable civilization. The works by a selection of female artists and an artistic duo with links to Slovakia and the Czech Republic but who are also active internationally, are an attempt to seek out a “greener” world. And while these efforts might seem minor or insignificant, they have their own significance in the spread of ideas, the starting point of every process of change.
Themes cycle.
Curator: Katarína Balúnová – GUS.
HELMUT BISTIKA: herzLicht
The exhibition is held on the occasion of the 60th birthday of an artist whose entire creative career has been spent far from the hub of the art world. The connection between the artist’s works and people with learning disabilities, with whom he has long worked, opens up the potential for perceiving and interpreting exterior and interior worlds and, no less significantly, represents a call for the tolerance of otherness. His work develops in isolation and is influenced by his closer identification with German-speaking countries than with Slovakia. Formally, his work can be categorised as art brut, but the artist does not see this as important; it is the creative process itself which is essential, freedom of expression and the joy of play.
Profiles cycle.
Curator: Katarína Balúnová – GUS.
ZBYNĚK PROKOP: SHEET MUSIC
A selection of experimental works by the Košice painter, multimedia artist and long-serving lecturer at the Faculty of Arts in TUKE in Košice. The title of the exhibition corresponds to the transformation of the artist’s images into sound – a direct reflection of the music which is an integral element of his small-scale sculptures.
Profiles cycle.
Curator: Miroslav Kleban.
26. 7. – 5. 11. 2023
BY WINDING ROADS / SLOVAK MODERNISM FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Artists: Teodor Zemplényi, Ľudovít Čordák, Teodor Mousson, Gejzu Kieselbach, Janko Alexy, Zolo Palugyai, Miloš Alexander Bazovský, Martin Benka, Peter Matejka, Ján Mudroch, Eugen Nevan, Štefan Bednár, Ester Šimerová, Ladislav Čemický, Vincent Hložník, Viliam Chmel, Dezider Milly, Mária Medvecká, Imra Weinera-Kráľa, Gejza Angyal, Jozef Kollár, Anton Jasusch, Juraj Collinásy, Július Jakoby, Július Szabó, Bertalan Pór, Armina Schӧnbergera and others
The exhibition presents almost 50 works by some of the most renowned figures of Slovak Modernism from a private collection in Prešov. Works of art often find themselves in collections through “winding roads”, and this fact has inspired the title of the exhibition project. The curatorial aim of the exhibition is to offer an outline of the development of modernist art in Slovakia in the first half of the 20th century in as broad a geographical scope as possible using representative works, but the exhibition also places a special emphasis on the art of the Generation of 1909 given the quantity and quality of their works in the collection.
Themes cycle.
Curator: Jozef Ridilla.
HUMAN ANIMAL III. / BUZZ OFF, BUG!
Artists: Igor Benca, Marek Brincko, Lenka Cisárová, Andrea Čepiššáková, Jiří Černický (CZ), Andrej Dúbravský, Vlado Eliáš, Bohdan Hostiňák, Anna Hulačová (CZ), Kristóf Lázár (HU), Milan Mikuláštík (CZ), Juliana Mrvová, Liliya Pobornikova (BG), Emil Sedlák, Paulina Tarara (PL), Ján Triaška, Peter Valiska-Timečko, Miro Trubač and others
Insects have long fascinated and disgusted us; they are a symbol of death and decay but also of rebirth. Despite their diminutive stature, they play an important role in natural processes. Humankind expends huge efforts in eliminating insects, but in recent years we have started to realise how much we have undervalued their significance. Unwittingly and, presumably, unwillingly, “ordinary bugs” are aspiring to become our food of the future. The ambivalent nature of our relationship with insects, oscillating between feelings of wonder and disgust, serves as an important source of inspiration. The featured artists reflect on the theme from different perspectives and in a wide range of media which indicate the breadth of potential psychological and mythological associations.
Themes cycle.
Curator: Katarína Balúnová – GUS.
LIMITS OF SURREALISM / EMIL SEDLÁK, KAROL BARON
The exhibition interprets works by Emil Sedlák and Karol Baron from the Gallery’s collection, works which highlight the surrealist tendencies of the two artists. Karol Baron enriches his works with specific elements of black humour, absurd metamorphoses and shocking grotesques. Emil Sedlák is frequently inspired by animal motifs in which he personifies human behaviour and the conflict between the worlds of nature and civilization. The two artists’ dilemma over approaches to art and life and the search for thematic correspondences in the works is interpreted through graphic works and paintings.
Collection cycle.
Curator: Kamila Paceková – GUS.
15. 11. 2023 – 17. 3. 2024
ĽUBO STACHO: PRAYER / SACRAL ELEMENTUM V.
A chronological projection of the five decades of the artist’s creative work in thematic dialogues with an accent on spiritual motifs, in genres ranging from classical photography to new media. The exhibition reflects upon the spiritual essence of Stacho’s art and its interest in the depiction of religious themes in selected cycles which are dominated by metaphor and the passage of time, but also a spiritual and artistic richness of faith. The exhibition is presented as part of the Year of Sacred Art.
Themes cycle.
Curators: Lucia Benická – GUS, Monika Stacho.
CONCRETE COOPERATION
Artists: Aleš Svoboda, Pavel Hayek, Jakub Guziur, Vladana Hajnová, Jaroslav Jebavý, Jana Babincová, Milan Houser, Ladislav Jezbera, Zuzana Bartošová, Jan Kovářík, Štěpán Málek and others
Guests: Mark Starel (PL), Mateusz Dąbrowski (PL)
The group exhibition of work by the Concretists’ Club offers a fresh perspective on the concrete art of the Czech Republic. The present-day Concretists’ Club 3 continues the tradition of the original Concretists’ Club established in 1967 and focuses on researching and promoting this underrepresented art form. The belief in the universality of art is one of the fundamental characteristics of concrete art, a genre which was described by Arsén Pohribný as a newly formed subject of aesthetic fascination. Using different materials and technologies, the featured artists present unique games with form, movement, chance, geometry and beauty.
Themes cycle.
Curator: Martina Vítková.
TOMÁŠ CETERA: glob/log
The solo exhibition of the Spiš artist is a record of glocal fragments in the post-truth era. The title of the exhibition is both onomatopoeic, reflecting the absurdity of the world, but also serves as a symbolic immersion in the living spaces of our picturesque neighbours. The passions of collectors, breeders and hunters reflect wider social relationships and emerge as a fertile ground for the formation of new conspiracy theories. An important role is also played by the artist’s own past and his childhood spent in a vast featureless housing estate during the declining years of socialist utopias.
Profiles cycle.
Curator: Katarína Balúnová – GUS.
