Ján Ťapák exhibition

Ján ŤAPÁK – 33 years with sculptures

There are stories that last for a short time, but they have the energy of an artistic idea. And there are stories that are also 33 years old and contain the power of continuity. Both moments are present in the current exhibition of Ján Ťapák at Danubian, which is also a retrospective of his sculptural work. Moments of ideas with an almost conceptual character, but also Toro or King and Queen as archetypes of eternal sculptural themes. The scope is really wide, one cannot remain indifferent to Ťapák’s work. You can meditate with a good book under a rosette in the Notre Dame Cathedral, become a participant in a game of dice between the great ancient Greek warriors Achilles and Aias, or balance with a rope climber over a bull’s neck. The sculptor changes the rhythm to approximate the momentum of the idea. The artistic register is broad and the compositions have a clear focus.

I am still fascinated by how Jano can capture movement and yet maintain that proverbial Balance. How his bronzes levitate, how the millennial bee kisses man in a fateful way, and how the jellyfish in turn float like mysterious constellations. Sometimes I have the impression that Jano is like his observatory, which through a telescope can see into the farthest depths of the universe, or if you like – parallel worlds. Yes, Plato wrote long ago that the origin of our world is not material, but mental. That its essence is not atoms, but information, which later transformed into particles of matter.

This is also what the sculptures of Ján Ťapák are about. They have a big inhale, but they are not followed by an immediate exhale – because they are not for one look. They reveal their secrets gradually, like a well-composed thriller. They have the memory of trees that are silent witnesses to human deeds, but they also have a lingering smile that makes our world more bearable. The jubilant author offers a look back to emphasize the present. 33 years is a period when one can already recapitulate. For Jan, however, time is only a moving quantity, and so his stories do not end. Fortunately.
Ľudovít Petránsky, curator of the exhibition

Biography:

Born on 27 December 1962 in Bratislava. From 1978 to 1982 he studied at the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava, majoring in woodcarving under prof. Ludwik Korkoš and Ján Šick and in 1983 – 1989 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, Department of Sculpture under prof. Ladislav Snopek and Ján Kulich. In 1997 he received a scholarship from the Mikuláš Galanda Foundation and in 2004 a scholarship from The Pollock – Krasner Foundation. In 2010 he organized a major exhibition Samurai, which was patronized by the Japanese Ambassador Yoshio Nomoto. The artist’s major works include the sculpture Slovakia, the Heart of Europe, which he created for the United Nations in Nairobi, Kenya, and the five-metre monumental bronze sculpture Prince Laborec for the Slovak village of Habura. His works are in public and private collections in Europe and overseas. He has had dozens of joint and solo exhibitions. In 2019, he was awarded the Crystal Wing in the category of Fine Arts. He lives in Bratislava and works in his studio in the village of Smolinské near Šaštín.

Venue: Danubiana, Čunovo, Slovakia
Date: from 17.06.2022 – 04.09.2022
Opening hours: 10:00 – 18:00
Admission:
Adults – 10 €
Family (2 adults and 2 students) – 20 €
Pensioners (over 62 years old) – 5 €
Students – 5 €
Children (under 6 years old) – Free
Danubiana Club Members – Free
Disabled persons, persons over 75 years of age – Free

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