… what a striking doodle is this?
… hmmm, that’s interesting, what could that mean? …
One image, two different approaches. Frankly, what do we think when we find ourselves in front of a work that we do not even understand? Are we trying to understand it or reject it in a second? Galleries that present mainly contemporary visual art are quite often confronted with such diverse views by their visitors.
How to see art? How can I approach it, learn to perceive it, get into its core and understand it? What is actually a mission of art? How do we rate it? Can we respect it as it is?
The presented educational exhibition under the title How to see art… works with these and many other questions related to the qualification and possibilities of perception of visual arts. The realisation of the exhibition itself involved the cooperation of six contemporary visual artists, from which the majority works in Banská Bystrica and at the same time is also pedagogically active or actively engaged in the field of art education.
Juraj Gábor (1985) will present his interactive installation of paper based on the “planting” of grass set in between the floor joints. This installation will go through the process of growth, destruction and rebirth during both the exhibition and the attendance of the visitor. Author couple Eva Hnatová (1963) and Milan Hnat (1959) mapped domestic art – paintings that are part of the living space of their neighbours. The very presence of these “home” paintings at the gallery’s premises creates the symbolic link between public and private. Marianna Mlynárčiková (1971) and Nora Ružičková (1977) work with artworks from the collection of the Central Slovakian Gallery as well as monographs of fine artists. Through the chosen exercise methodology, a visitor is drawn into the physical and mental game when his or her own body or sense organ, which is in this case the eye, becomes a tool of perception. Patrik Ševčík (1974) starts from engraved graffiti in the context of the past and the present, whereby a visitor is leaving an information about his presence by engraving a “record” into the wall.
Presented author concepts of individual artists or authors’ couples fall into the field of participative art when a visitor becomes a participant and direct co-creator. Works that actively communicate in the form of direct interaction attempt to consciously and deliberately eliminate the physical and mental barrier created between the viewer as a percipient and a piece of art as an “untouchable” artefact. This approach leaves in the perceiver an “experience trail”, and he or she is essential in the process starting from playing to perceiving, accepting, and then understanding the formal and intellectual qualities of the presented works.
The exhibition works with art as a learning tool. Finding appropriate methods and forms of work with demanding contemporary viewers is one of the gallery’s challenges today. “Today’s galleries” are not only collecting institutions, institutions for the presentation of art, but more and more often they hold an educational function.
The Educational Exhibition How to see art … is a sequel to the so-called educational exhibitions realised by the Department of Galery Education at the Central Slovakian Gallery. During the exhibition, various accompanying events, such as commented tour, discussion lectures, author workshops, etc. will be realised.
Martina Martincová
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How to see art… / Educational exhibition
Presented authors: Juraj Gábor, Eva Hnatová & Milan Hnat, Marianna Mlynarčíková & Nora Ružičková, Patrik Ševčík
Organized by: The Central Slovakian Gallery
Curator: Martina Martincová
Restoration cooperation: Miroslav Slúka
Graphic design: Palo Snoha
Concept of the architectural design of the exhibition and realisation: Norbert Nečada
Translation: Zuzana Szabóová
Venue: Bethlen House (1st floor), Dolna 8, Banská Bystrica
Duration: October 17, 2018 – February 24, 2019
Opening: October 16, 2018 at 5 pm (Tuesday)
Exhibition and accompanying activities were supported by the Slovak Arts Council from public sources, and also by the Banská Bystrica Self-governing Region and the City of Banská Bystrica.