Roman Ondak
Eclipse
Artist
Roman Ondak
(1966, Žilina), Slovak
Original Title
Eclipse
Date2018
Mediumblackboard, bowls from ladles
Dimensions120 × 220 cm
Classifications
paintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionRoman Ondak’s artistic practice is based on principles of relocation and duplication. His installations, performances, objects, and drawings commonly focus on the search for appropriate means of communicating an initial idea; the resultant form of expression is often marked by a performative dimension. His work, influenced by the legacies of conceptualism and minimalism, questions the functioning of society and institutions in today’s globalized world and reacts to the specific conditions of Central and Central-Eastern Europe. Ondak’s experience of life under the Communist regime made him vigilant toward political systems, understanding their strong influence on social behavior. He analyzes the failure of communism and searches for alternative social and political possibilities. His approach to these topics is indirect—he stirs the imagination of his viewers, giving them an opportunity to explore current societal conditions. His art combines mundane elements with poetic humor, providing space for the examination of established habits. Ondak often makes use of subtle interventions and incorporates active participation by viewers or selected individuals. His artistic interventions are based on slight manipulations of contexts, disrupting our conventional expectations and inviting us to recognize the functioning of the society and the system which surround us.
This piece titled Eclipse (2018) is formed by two sieves embedded into a school blackboard. It thematizes the relationship between humans and outer space, exploring questions of scale and memory. Viewers’ perceptions of the piece depend on the distance it is viewed at: close up, they can make out signs of wear on the wooden boards—a trace of the communal activities they were created for; from afar, the work associates the cosmic movement of planets around the Sun. Ondak’s approach thus demonstrates how shifting our perspective and viewpoint changes the manner of our immediate visual perception, which can also substantially differ from the information stored in our memory.
Roman Ondak (*1966, Žilina) is an internationally acclaimed artist based in Bratislava. From 1988 to 1994, he studied painting and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Later, he also attended study programs at the Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, the Helveticum in Zurich, and the CAA in Kitakyushu, Japan, and received the DAAD scholarship in Berlin. His work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as the Tate Modern in London, the MALBA in Buenos Aires, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the MoMA PS1 in New York City, Kunsthalle Nurnberg, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the ICA, and the Frankfurter Kunstverein. He has also exhibited at numerous international biennials such as the 50th and 54th Venice Biennale (2004, 2011), the 5th Moscow Biennale (2013), the 5th Liverpool Biennial (2008), the 8th Art Biennial of Panama (2008), the 27th São Paulo Biennial, and 1st Prague Biennale (2003).
This piece titled Eclipse (2018) is formed by two sieves embedded into a school blackboard. It thematizes the relationship between humans and outer space, exploring questions of scale and memory. Viewers’ perceptions of the piece depend on the distance it is viewed at: close up, they can make out signs of wear on the wooden boards—a trace of the communal activities they were created for; from afar, the work associates the cosmic movement of planets around the Sun. Ondak’s approach thus demonstrates how shifting our perspective and viewpoint changes the manner of our immediate visual perception, which can also substantially differ from the information stored in our memory.
Roman Ondak (*1966, Žilina) is an internationally acclaimed artist based in Bratislava. From 1988 to 1994, he studied painting and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Later, he also attended study programs at the Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, the Helveticum in Zurich, and the CAA in Kitakyushu, Japan, and received the DAAD scholarship in Berlin. His work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as the Tate Modern in London, the MALBA in Buenos Aires, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the MoMA PS1 in New York City, Kunsthalle Nurnberg, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the ICA, and the Frankfurter Kunstverein. He has also exhibited at numerous international biennials such as the 50th and 54th Venice Biennale (2004, 2011), the 5th Moscow Biennale (2013), the 5th Liverpool Biennial (2008), the 8th Art Biennial of Panama (2008), the 27th São Paulo Biennial, and 1st Prague Biennale (2003).
