IT IS worth the trouble to go through the metal detectors and visit this small gallery space inside the Presidential Palace. The vaulted ceilings are ornate, the light is lovely, and, after all, it is the Presidential Palace. But Katarína Vavrová's mixed media works are the real treasures here.
In her Šťastie si ty (Happiness Is You) collection, Vavrová has combined precision collage using Japanese rice paper, snippets of highly representational painting, gilt, and pen-and-ink drawings to create sophisticated, ethereal, and sometimes whimsical pieces. Her image, like Modigliani's women, echoes through most pieces. Her ink drawings are reminiscent of da Vinci's anatomical doodles.
The exhibition is open daily through February 23, except when there are official events at the palace. The Presidential Palace's Salla Terena Gallery sits at Hodžovo námestie 1, Bratislava.
By Amanda Surbey,
Special to the Spectator
7. Feb 2005 at 0:00