Saturday saw the opening of a new exhibition in MODEM. “Zero Years. Slovak Visual Art between 1999 and 2011 from Four Curatorial Perspectives” can be seen from 24 March to 24 June, 2012 in the opening hours of MODEM. Below you can read the official introduction provided by MODEM.The title of the new exhibition in MODEM refers to both the beginning and the end. No wonder, as contemporary Slovak art is connected to twentieth-century avant-garde and modernist efforts in many ways, while the political and cultural background of the works is somehow still provided by the new, global, post-nationalist and post-communist condition. The curators (Juraj Čarný, Gabriela Garlatyová, Richard Gregor and Mira Sikorová-Putišová), who were socialized around the time of the change of regime, have compiled their own individual sections according to criteria they deemed emblematic. The four perspectives, however, overlap in several respects, subtly highlighting the characteristic visual trends of the “zero years”, i.e. the 2000s.
Viktor Freso: Komatex Sheet, 2008, combined technique
The exhibition offers an insight to the less known production of the Slovak arts from the last decade and diverts the attention to the similarities of the Slovak and Hingarian art scene, such as the previously suppressed and recently institutionalized avant-garde art, the process of eliminating socialist history and the postmodern cirtique of modern politics and modernist art. Another striking similarity between Slovak (and Hungarian) perspectives is the “postmodern” (mostly feminist) challange to modern politics and modernist art, focusing on social (gender) roles, which is also readily observable in the corpus of the show.
Lucia Dovicáková: Sisters, 2008, acrylic on canvas
In addition to ideological concerns, the curators stress the problematic of the medium and the image, the curators undoubtedly selected the works of the most renowned “national” stars (Roman Ondák, Július Koller) while also attempting to present new, subversive voices.
Participating artists:
Štefan Balázs, Binderfresh (Erik Binder & Juraj Kollár), Ladislav Čarný, Anton Čierny & Pavlína Fichta Čierna, Ivan Csudai, Anna Daučíková, Richard Fajnor, Stano Filko, Eva Filová, Zuzana Flimelová, Viktor Frešo, Július Koller & Kveta Fulierová, Peter Janáčik, Peter Kalmus, Juraj Kollár, Otis Laubert, Matúš Lányi, Stano Masár, Eva Moflárová, Michal Murin, Lucia Nimcová, Vladimír Popovič, Juraj Puchovský, Dorota Sadovská, Anetta Mona Chisa / Lucia Tkáčová, Lucia Dovičáková, Németh Ilona, Roman Ondák, Igor Ondruš, Štefan Papčo, Veronika Rónaiová, Jarmila Sabová-Džuppová, Erik Šille, Gabriela Binderová, Mira Gáberová, Mario Chromý, Mark Ther, Kassaboys (Radovan Čerevka, Tomáš Makara, Peter Vrábeľ), Jaroslav Kyša, Rónai Péter, Anabela Žigová.
