Family – Friends
Exposition in GJK in the period May 2017 - October 2017
The third curratorial thematic area of the gallery's exhibitions belonged to the presentation of the extremely important world of the artist's work. It was an area of emotional impact but also depth of thought: the meaning and intertwining of family and friendship.
Detail
EXPOSITION PERIOD
May 2017 - October 2017
NUMBER OF EXHIBITED WORKS
54 sculptures, 33 medals
17 paintings by Koloman Sokol
7 paintings by Mária Medvecká
The artist established the principles of this precious relationship in his lifelong work. In it is reflected the sculptor's human and artistic belief in the necessity of a bond with family and friends. He also confirmed the identical artistic and human profile in this sphere. It corresponds to the meaning of the words of Antoine de Saint Exupèry who says that "friends are the family we choose ourselves ..." and Ján Kulich confirmed in his life that even "the family are friends."
As a part of the exhibition, visitors were able to look into the more intimate spheres and inspirations of Kulich's work, influenced by the environment in which he grew up and which significantly shaped his work. These include portraits of his closest family: parents, wife, children or grandchildren from different periods and stages of their life. An important part of the exhibition were medals, the creation of which was inspired by the world in which Ján Kulich was born and raised. The theme of the family also includes the motif of the Madonna, which could be encountered in the works of the Madonna of Poľana, Palms and Pieta. During the presentation of the important world of the author's work, the gallery did not omit the portraits of his friends, with whom he was connected not only by his work or love of fine arts, but also by passion for Slovak folk culture and its musical and artistic expressions.
An important part of the exhibition was a selection of works by Mária Medvecká, a representative of Slovak realistic impressionism, and 16 paintings by Koloman Sokol, the founder of modern Slovak graphics of the 20th century.
"In the value of his work, we can observe above all the clear contribution of the modern realism of sculpture, consisting in the search for new content sources of poetically tuned Slovak national emotionality ...“
"From the standpoint of the rhythm of Slovak modern art, Ján Kulich filled the gap that was between literature and painting on the one hand and sculpture on the other and completed his tendency which is an eloquent testimony not only to the national but also to the universal."
"The poetic relationship to the current motif makes the artistic content and expression of the plaques very rich in the emotional depth of the experiences. "
