SNG opens two new exhibitions in Premostení referencing the tumultuous 1960s

Bratislava – New Exhibitions Art That Remained (Collection – International Biennial of Young Artists Danuvius 1968) and U.F.O. Art of Fantastic Disengagement will be open to visitors starting tomorrow (Thursday, March 28) at the SNG. Both exhibitions offer an immersion in the art of the 1960s – a tumultuous period of creative ferment and social change. They present different aspects of this era with significant overlaps and parallels to the present day. Their placement in the gallery is also a reference to the sixties, in which the idea of the iconic Bridge was born from the architect Vladimír Dedeček.

The exhibition Art That Remained; Collection – International Biennial of Young Artists Danuvius 1968 features works from the legendary international biennial that took place in Bratislava just a few months after the August occupation of Czechoslovakia. Despite the difficult political situation, the biennial presented plurality and freedom of artistic expression. Visitors can view works by Slovak, Czech, and foreign authors, including J. Jankovič, M. Šutej, S. Filko, A. Frohner, G. Pisani, M. Raysse, and M. Ikeda.

The exhibition is not just a reconstruction of the biennial but also a search for answers to questions about the ambition of the gallery to collect and exhibit international art and build a critical model of the gallery in a global world. The Danuvius 1968 biennial became the only and last free confrontation of Czechoslovak artists with Western, Eastern European, and Central European art before the normalization isolation.

"The International Biennial of Young Artists Danuvius '68, conceptualized by the general commissioner Ľubor Káro, is a legendary event in the history of 20th-century Slovak visual art. It was expected that the first edition in 1968 would kick off a tradition of regular exhibitions of young art (for artists under 35), but it remained the first and only one. Its significance transcended the borders of then-socialist Czechoslovakia in all directions, to the East and especially to the West. It is a symbol of an openly, democratically, and freely developing society at the end of the sixties, which was halted by the August events of 1968. The biennial bears the name of the Roman designation of the Danube River; the eponymous military operation – the entry of five Warsaw Pact troops – disrupted its form and future, literally cutting it off like an 'iron' river. The occupation in Czechoslovakia halted the reform movement and democratic processes, turning the country's direction back to the Soviet model through gradual normalization measures intensified in 1970. They marked the end of freedom of expression, the reintroduction of censorship, purges, border closures, a return to the ideas of Marxism and Leninism, socialist realism, isolation, and ruthless retaliation for activities during the reform period," said the curator of the exhibition Vladimíra Büngerová.

The second exhibition, U.F.O. Art of Fantastic Disengagement, focuses on conceptual art in Slovakia from 1963 to 1972. Visitors will see works by Július Koller, Stano Filko, Peter Bartoš, Milan Adamčiak, Alex Mlynárčik, Rudolf Sikora, Dezider Tóth, Juraj Meliš, Ľubomír Ďurček, and Milan Tittel. The exhibition presents well-known as well as rarely exhibited or completely unknown works that were created in the spirit of the "sweet sixties".

The title Art of Fantastic Disengagement reflects the specific character of Slovak conceptualism, which differed from the analytical and systematic conceptualism in Anglo-Saxon countries. Slovak conceptualism was looser, focused on art of concepts, ideas, plans, and thought concepts. It often manifested itself in an unpredictable and unsystematic way, gaining enchanting unpredictability and fantasticality.

"More than half a century has passed, conceptual art of the classical and post-classical period is long past, but unlike other contemporary movements, it does not appear so antiquated, especially because it depends much less on stylistic determinants, visuals that are too tied to their time and inevitably depart with it into history, into (semi)forgetfulness. The means of conceptual art are often modest, simple, or visually symptomless. They contain minimal softening redundancies, even if stylistically appealing. Their basis is a clearly formulated idea, and the idea does not wither away, it continues to shine with no less intensity," explained the curator Aurel Hrabušický about the exhibition.

Both exhibitions reflect the dynamics and innovation of 1960s art, offering not only a fascinating view of the art of their time but also a dialogue on important issues of freedom, creativity, and social engagement.

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Art That Remained
Collection - International Biennial of Young Artists Danuvius 1968
March 28 - August 25, 2024

Curator: Vladimíra Büngerová
Exhibiting Authors: Hiromi Akiyama, Jiří Anderle, Natalino Andolfatto, Juraj Bartusz, Eva Bednářová, Alberto Biasi, Pavol Binder, Agostino Bonalumi, Albín Brunovský, Jozef Cesnak, Gianni Colombo, Radomir Damjanović, Juraj Deák, Erik Dietmann, Stanislav Filko, Adolf Frohner, Vladimír Gažovič, Bert Gerresheim, Mira Haberernová, Jiří Hilmar, Masuo Ikeda, Alexander Ilečko, Jozef Jankovič, Jaroslav Kočiš, Július Koller, Dušan Králik, Dieter Krieg, Richard Kriesche, Rudolf Krivoš, Alena Kučerová, Alex Mlynárčik, Rudolf Němec, Eduard Ovčáček, Francisco Peinado, Gianni Pisani, Naděžda Plíšková, Vladimír Popovič, Martial Raysse, Andrej Rudavský, Emil Sedlák, Antonio Seguí, Vladimir Şetran, Agnesa Sigetová, Michal Studený, Miloš Ševčík, Miroslav Šutej, Gunnar Thelander, Vladimir Veličković, Ivan Vychlopen

U.F.O.
Art of Fantastic Disengagement
March 28 - August 11, 2024

Curator: Aurel Hrabušický
Expert Collaboration: Lucia G. Stach
Exhibiting Authors: Július Koller, Stano Filko, Peter Bartoš, Milan Adamčiak, Alex Mlynárčik, Rudolf Sikora, Dezider Tóth, Juraj Meliš, Ľubomír Ďurček, and Milan Tittel

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