Culture shorts

Painter Pračko's show in Washington


Sword of Light Cross of Light.
photo: Courtesy of Slovak Embassy

VISIONS and Myths, an exhibition of paintings by Slovak-American artist Bernard Pračko, opened at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Washington DC. It includes a colourful, 7 by 16 foot painting of "environmental man in the universe".

Pračko uses colourful abstract symbols to express his artistic vision of allegorical stories from the past. The acrylic or acrylic with oil pastel paintings tell of the relationship between artists and myth in cultures, with the artist being the one who creates, presents and carries the myth throughout history.

Amid the colourful paintings are a medium-sized black and white gouache work and five smaller black-and-whites, which evoke the primitive cave paintings of the goddess, the sacred feminine, a subject of interest to Pračko as he travels to different archaeological sites around the world.

Pračko, whose father's Slovak family emigrated to the US in 1918, lives both in Bratislava and in Denver, Colorado.

The show will be open to the public until November 30, 2005 in the Koloman Sokol Gallery at the Slovak Embassy, Washington DC.



New stamps in art series issued


THE SLOVAK Post Office issued two new stamps in its Art series on October 27. They picture the graphic work Christ at Emmaus by famous baroque artist Rembrandt van Rijn and a painting by Slovak surrealist artist Karol Baron from his Zázračnosť zátiší (Miraculousness of Still Works) cycle. They are on sale at Slovak post offices for Sk28 and Sk35.

Artist Arnold Feke graphically adapted and carved Rembrandt's biblical motif of Jesus Christ with his apostles after the resurrection. František Horniak transferred Baron's surrealistic expression of the relationship between live and inanimate objects into stamp form.


Prepared by Spectator staff
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