Intervention of Ján Zelinka’s Works at the SNG Non-Permanent Exposition

This intervention follows the tradition of presenting the laureates of the Oskár Čepan Award at the SNG. The challenge for solo exhibitions was not the usual empty exhibition space, but the non-permanent exposition of old art, whose ambition was also to exhibit contemporary art in a  confrontation with the historical roots of the Slovak art.

Expert Cooperation: Dušan Buran

The union of old art with Zelinka’s works brought both a mutually enriching dialogue, but also a conflict and tension. The potential of the unusual combination of old and new became evident in several of Zelinka’s sculptures that loosely evoke the Pompeii drama and the mummified human and animal bodies. Traits of his work that also relate to old art are the archaic and archetypal language, human bodies, interpretations of Christian iconography, symbolism of animals and form deformation. The presence of surreality and unreality in his works has its essence in living dimensions, reality and contemporary world.

Sculptor Ján Zelinka (*1978) belongs to the younger generation of sculptors in Slovakia and he is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. Without exaggerating, we can talk about him as an original author endowed with talent and sculptural inventiveness. His individual work follows his own path and logic, freely experimenting with materials and techniques. His traditional figural sculptures comments on current topics.