Two Hulík retrospectives

THE LIFE work of Slovak visual artist Viktor Hulík is currently on display in two exhibitions; together, they offer a profound and thorough overview. The combined exhibition is called Ars Geometrica (-1993+): work from his pre-1993 period is being shown at Galéria Z; while his post-1993 output is at Dom umenia (House of Arts). After these exhibitions end (on February 24 and 26, respectively), the selected works will move on to the Vasarely Museum in Budapest, the Topič Salon in Prague and Orava Gallery in Dolný Kubín, Slovakia.

Viktor Hulík: Middle Geo-mover 15.Viktor Hulík: Middle Geo-mover 15. (Source: Courtesy of V. Hulík)

THE LIFE work of Slovak visual artist Viktor Hulík is currently on display in two exhibitions; together, they offer a profound and thorough overview. The combined exhibition is called Ars Geometrica (-1993+): work from his pre-1993 period is being shown at Galéria Z; while his post-1993 output is at Dom umenia (House of Arts). After these exhibitions end (on February 24 and 26, respectively), the selected works will move on to the Vasarely Museum in Budapest, the Topič Salon in Prague and Orava Gallery in Dolný Kubín, Slovakia.

The bigger of the two exhibitions, on display at the House of Arts on SNP Square and detailing his creative output after 1993, focuses mostly on geometric abstraction, the exhibition’s curator, Xénia Lettrichová, summed up. She added that there has been interest in Hulík in his exhibitions abroad as well as at home. A catalogue that accompanies the exhibition includes text in English.

These two exhibitions jointly present the development of Hulík’s work over the years, emphasising his focus on space, three-dimensionality, symmetry, colour contrasts and his obvious tendency to leave the genre of painting and enter into free space, Lettrichová said. She pointed out that however cold the geometric works might seem, they are instilled with a lot of emotion and passion. The bulletin accompanying the House of Arts exhibition (alas, only in Slovak – but labels of the works are also in English) states that this inclination of Hulík’s can be found as early as his photographs from the 1980s, and has continued through his plastic reliefs to his current work.

Hulík was born in Bratislava in 1949, and apart from some grants and scholarships, has worked out of the city his entire career. Lettrichová told the TASR newswire that Hulík seems to be the central personality of Slovak abstract geometry – not only through his work but also through his organising of artistic events.

What: Ars Geometrica (-1993+), exhibition
When: Jan 9 – Feb 16; Feb 24
Where: The House of Arts, Nám. SNP (SNP Square) 12; Galéria Z, Zichy Palace, Ventúrska 9
Admission: free
www.nocka.sk (in Slovak only); www.galeria-z.sk; www.hulik.sk

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