Furniture triggers the mind

FURNITURE artist Michal Moravčík, who won this year's Oskár Čepan Award for young Slovak artists on June 23, is exhibiting part of his work along with that of three other finalists of the competition organised by the Centre of Contemporary Art Foundation at Bratislava's Pálffy Palace until September 5.


SIT down and have a think.
photo: Zuzana Habšudová

FURNITURE artist Michal Moravčík, who won this year's Oskár Čepan Award for young Slovak artists on June 23, is exhibiting part of his work along with that of three other finalists of the competition organised by the Centre of Contemporary Art Foundation at Bratislava's Pálffy Palace until September 5.

Born in Bratislava in 1974, Moravčík caught the eye of the jury with his furniture objects, into which he carves various political, existential, and national slogans, such as "Which nationalism is better?" or "Privacy does not exist", mostly in English.

Interested in the problem of the individual's manipulation by society and the political system, Moravčík's work reflects on such issues as the "growing feeling of the loss of privacy caused by the improving technology in the hands of powerful structures", while adding a humorous aspect. His slogans are aimed to trigger people's consciousness in order to detect the means of manipulation.

The nine-member jury awarded Moravčík for his "original approach following the local tradition of new figurative sculpture work through the active incorporation of figural sculpture as an object into an installation and the environment, as well as furniture design reflecting on the socialist design of the 1970s."

The artist's work is displayed along with the modern photographs of Tomáš Agat Blonski, which includes peculiar portraits of hens; visual and video work by Jaroslav Kyša, in which he reflects on political and moral problems; and paintings by Peter Maukš Voda that exploit the corporate and advertising pseudo-culture of today.


- Zuzana Habšudová

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