Opening of the exhibition, with Vladimír Balko (centre). (source: Courtesy of the Na Poschodí Gallery)
A SELECTION of the works presented in the recent book of Slovak painter Vladimír Balko can be seen in an exhibit in a small, downtown Bratislava gallery. Called, Maľba, kresba, grafika (Painting, Drawings, Graphic Art), more than 30 of the artist’s works are presented in the Galérii Na Poschodí (Gallery Upstairs) on Michalská Street.
Both the exhibition and the book mark his 50th birthday. The paintings Rodina (Family), Západ slnka (Sunset) and Oranžový priestor (Orange Space) are 1.7 by 1.3 metres in size, while others are smaller, the TASR newswire wrote. Most of the works are figurative. Many more paintings, drawings and graphic works, spanning the years 1978-2013, can be found in the 250-page book – his first ever.
Born in Bojnice in 1963, Balko studied at an artistic secondary school and the Academy of Fine Arts, both in Bratislava, as the student of famous artist Albín Brunovský.
Since 1992 he has been a freelance artist. He lectured at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Art Academy in Banská Bystrica in 1998-1999, and since 2001 he has been lecturing at the Ladislav Bielik secondary school in Levice, where he currently resides. He has garnered several Slovak and international awards and his work continues to be exhibited in the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Switzerland.
