Erotic Massacre

Menier Gallery / 51 Southwark Street London SE1 1RU

Ena Bรกn

Erotic Massacre

Erotic massacre throughthe eyes ofEnaBán The phrase “Erotic Massacre” raises the expectations of the viewer, through the prism of the artist’s vision. It depicts a world overtaken by massacre: mass slaughter of defenceless, often underage consumers left on the border between reality and the digital world, rained on from outside and in by visual elements stuck in perpetual motion. The viewer strives to find the key ideas hiding under the guise of religious values and codes of ethics, a smog. But the exhibition and therefore the artist’s work intends the opposite of a mere spiritless intrusion of her own illusions onto the recipient – the customer.

Using classic collage – a postmodern technique adapted to be temperamentally the artist’s own – these works take us back to the period before the digital revolution, disconnected from the virtual world of capitalism. It is in this harking back to youthful black-and-white themes through colour composition formed in a period of visual smog that the artist establishes the basic paradox of life – a unique ideal form, the virtual world which is located within each of us.

In her works the artist depicts everyday images transformed by media, projected onto the individual eye of each beholder. From the beginning she has found a balance of kitsch, recognition and false re-assurance, but mainly knowledge of the world as it really is.

From the first drop of paint, symbol of the primal world, cascading onto the fibres of handmade paper, Ena Ban traverses a wide spectrum of artistic creation and life experiences. The artist’s struggle with her own identity has led to the composition of unique works, where the finished whole demonstrates the underlying cohesion of the work and its importance in the continuous discovery of variants of meditation and the power of primal elements and approaches.

After the loss of illusions, in the framework of a post-ideological notion about the world of people, the artist presents the real world – the “new physicality of the virtual world” – from an austere perspective and with a clear view to the near future.

She shows us a painting, a collage, which is distinguished by a strong, subjective, emotive and creative need without the necessity for prior intellectualisation. Using basic of principles of the digital image and its basic building block – the pixel - she creates with complete certainty and self-knowledge.

Previously, Ena Ban’s work has been interested in the organisation of order, the creation of and changes to systems. Having taken this theme as far as she can, by contrast, in Erotic Massacre, she pursues the relationship between a person and the self. Like Foucault, she examines how a person thinks about his or her own existence, playing games with truth and lies. By engaging with the truth a person is more likely to know their self and be in touch with their desires and longings.

Yearning after love, power and wealth risks violence. The influence of Foucault’s philosophical thinking (Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison, The History of Sexuality, Power, Madness and Civilization...) can be seen throughout the artist’s work, its spirit infusing the essence of her creativity. The artist sensitively approaches the question of herself as an individual; she seeks to know her own values, make sense of her own behaviour, her own obligations, her own pleasures, feelings, sensations and dreams.

Oliver Leško

Erotic Massacre, 2015, collage, acrylic, 90x 60, sign. right side

Anthropological Curves, 2006, oil, 190x 90, sign. on the front, right side

“Extra plates� for Refugees, 2015, collage, oil, 40x50, sign. on the front, right

Can’t Stop the Feeling ! I., 2016, collage, oil, acryl, 110x 130, sign. right side

Can’t Stop the Feeling ! II., 2016, collage, acryl, 90x110, sign. right side

Digital Image (detail), 2015, acrylic, 50x 50, sign. on the back

Murder in the Hotel Room, 2015, collage, acrylic, 85x 70, sign. on the back

All the way to the Top, 2016, collage, oil, acrylic, 140x 200, sign. right side

Twins, 2015, dig. printing, collage, acrylic, 90x 105, sign. right side

Don’t Leave Your Child Unattended, 2016, 100x 90, sign. right side

Videophilia, 2015, collage, acrylic, 60x 50, sign. right sidet

By-product, 2014, acrylic, 80x100, sign. right side

Ode to Joy, 2015, collage, acrylic, 80x70, sign. right side

Érot, 2016, acryl, 160x200, sign. right side

EnaBán: Profile Ena Bán has devoted herself professionally to painting, drawing, graphic art and installations since 1981. She has exhibited independently in many countries including the UK, USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Japan.

She was awarded the prestigious Gold Prize at the Kutani International Ceramics Graphic Design Competition 1997 in Kanazawa-Ishikawa, Japan. She has also taken part in international exhibitions of graphic art and painting in Germany, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, USA and other countries.

Since 2014 she has concentrated on her own work which is primarily concerned with social themes. She has taken part in a number of projects: Dopady a odrazy (Implications and Images), Manipulácia obrazu (Handling of the Image), Synergetický proces (The Synergetic Process), Extra plate, Kozm (et)ické divadlo (Cosmic/Ethical Theatre).

Ena’s current project: “Erotický masaker” (Erotic Massacre) is a response to current global concerns. She reflects on individualism and loss of identity, and offers a positive perspective, a specific solution: the renewed discovery and transformation of lost values - family, home, nature.

Central to her contemporary work is the creation of painted images that have their basis in digital media, strategies of mass culture and the function of advertising in media. The artist’s profile is shaped by maturity, openness and her ethical commitment. Alfredo Pasolino, international art critic, National Gallery of Art, Washington (USA).noted this in his article “Fratellanze astratiste sulle ali dell‚ impulso poetico” of From 1998 – 2008 she worked as an instructor at the Department of Creative Education and Art at Prešov University in Prešov.

From 2009 – 2013 she worked as the director of the East Slovak Gallery in Košice where she worked, among others, on two internationally recognized projects: “Andy Warhol and Júlia” and “The Košice Modern” in the scope of the project Košice – European Capital of Culture.

In co-operation with Andy Warhol’ brother, Paul, with whom she exhibited in the Koloman Sokol Gallery in Washington, DC, she presented Andy Warhol and the most important woman in his life – his mother Júlia. As curator of the project The Košice Modern, in cooperation with institutions and experts from New York to Uzhhorod, she assessed for the first time the most significant creative period of Košice in the 1920s, when Košice was an international centre of art similar to Paris, Weimar, Vienna or Prague. Elisabeth Clegg (London) published a review of the book Košická moderna (The Košice Modern) in the professional magazine ART’S. Ena lives and works in Košice and Bratislava.

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Education 1981–1986 University of P. J. Šafarik, Košice – Department of Visual Art, Prešov

Profession 2015

Artistico, a.s. , Vienna 2009–2013 Východoslovenská galéria, Košice , Director 1998–2008 University of Prešov, Department of Visual Art and Education, Prešov, Teacher 1986–1998 Art School , Kosice, Teacher

Grants, Prizes, Residences, Scholarships: 2008 Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic – grant for contemporary art – Chancellor’s Prize for Visual Art 2005 Bemis Center of Contemporary Art, Omaha, Nebraska /USA/ – art residencies scholarship 2004 PRO Slovakia, Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic – artist grant Multiserv Slovensko – artist grant U. S. Steel Košice, Slovakia – artist grant 2003 U.S. Embassy, Bratislava, Slovakia – artist grant U. S. Steel Košice, Slovakia – artist grant U. S. Steel, Pittsburgh – artist grant /USA/ 2002 Vermont Studio Art Center, USA – fellowship printmakers studio / USA/ 1997 Gold Prize – Kutani Intemational Graphic Design Competition, Komatsu Ishikawa /Japan/ 1996 Scholarship SFVU, Slovakia 1994

Scholarship SFVU, Slovakia

International/own/projects: 2010 – 2013 Košice Modernism, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice 2010 Andy Warhol and Júlia, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice 2004 Picture of Vermont – Slovak – American project Between The Lines: Traveling Full Circle – Slovak – American project Manipulation of Image – Slovak – Czech project The Person: Water – Slovak – Czech project

Lecture and workshops: 2008 Between Art and Music –Structure II, University of Taiwan 2006 Structure, Tokyo University, Department of Art 2004 Synergetic Process, Secondary School, Pittsburgh 2004 New possibilities with Warhol’s art, Collage of Art, Washington

Personal exhibitions: 2010 Kozmicke divadlo, Slovenský inštitút, Budapest /Hungary/ 2009 Kozmicke divadlo, Múzeum Vojtecha Lofflera, Košice /Slovakia/ 2008 Kozm/et/ické divadlo / Space Theatre – Galéria mesta Bratislavy, Bratislava /Slovakia/ 2007 Hexagramy – Galéria Salla Terena, President Palace, Bratislava /Slovakia/ Lino – Galéria Pedagogickej fakulty, Univerzita Hradec Králové /Czech Republic/ STRUCTURE ? Gallery of Contemporary Art – Zbor kněže Ambrože, Hradec Králové /Czech Republic/ 2006 Manipulácia Obrazu III/ Manipulation of Image – Kozmické divadlo – Galéria UK PU, Prešov /Slovakia/ Synergetický proces I – J&T Bank Gallery, Prague /Czech Republic/ Synergetický proces II – Galéria Slovenského inštitútu, Prague /Czech Republic/ Do you remember? – Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebišov /Slovakia/ 2005 Aqua Naturata – Aqua Naturans – Slovak – Czech exhibition, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice /Slovakia/ Manipulácia /obrazu/ - Galéria UK Prešovskej univerzity, Prešov /Slovakia/ Manipulácia obrazu II, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice /Slovakia/ 2004 What is Creativity?, Koloman Sokol Gallery, Embassy of the Slovak Republic, Washington D.C. /USA/ Persona: VODA – Slovak – Czech exhibition, Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebišov Šarišská galéria Prešov /Slovakia/ Popradské múzeum Poprad /Slovakia/ 2003 Pictures of Vermont. Tracey Adams, USA, Virginia Folkestad /USA/ Lena Lešková /Slovakia/, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice /Slovakia/ Múzeum moderného umenia A. Warhola, Medzilaborce /Slovakia/ Šarišská galéria, Prešov /Slovakia/ Synergetic Process, Virginia Folkestad, Lena Lešková, Foyer of Astronomical Institute, Tatranská Lomnica /Slovakia/ Between The Lines: Traveling Full Circle . Tracey Adams, Virginia Folkestad –Lena Lešková, U.S. Steel corporation – Upper Lobby Gallery, Pittsburgh /USA/ 2002 Da Facto III. S. Bubán, S. Bubán, K. Fulierová, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice /Slovakia/ 2001 Synergetic Painting. Kunstfarmu Ebendarf Raumacht. Vienna /Austria/ Nové D. O., Galéria Čaba /Hungary/ De Facto. Gallery of Slovak Institute, Embassy of the Slovak Republic. Roma /Italy/ De Facto II Sarospatak Keptár /Hungary/

2000 Stopy D. O. II. Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebišov /Slovakia/ 1999 Stopy D. O., Galéria Kopa, Košice /Slovakia/ 1998 Nové dopady a odrazy /graphic/ Galeria M& M – Divadlo A. Bagara, Nitra A&A Creative Gallery, Stuttgart /Germany/ 1997 Svetlo Čiernej a bielej, Múzeum V. Löfflera, Košice /Slovakia/ Obrazy, Múzeum v Jasle /Poland/ 1996 Maľba, Zemplínske múzeum, Trebišov /Slovakia/ 1994 Afternatívna grafika, Galéria C. Majerníka, Bratislava /Slovakia/ 1988 Maľba, Galéria Pravdy, Bratislava /Slovakia/ 1987 Maĺba, Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebišov /Slovakia/ Galéria Berehovo, Trebišov /Slovakia/

Groupexhibitions: 2008 Intersalon AJV – XII. Ročník medzinárodnej prehliadky súčasného výtvarného umenia, České Budějovice /Czech Republic/ Intersalon ´08 – Kulturmodell – Berufsverband Bildender Kunstle, Passau /Germany/ Súčasné východoslovenské výtvarné umenie 2008, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice /Slovakia/ MSJ CUP – Paintings – benefit auction, Garden Gallery, Zvolen /Slovakia/ 2007 Salón východoslovenských umelcov, Private Gallery, Prešov /Slovakia/ Interpretation of the Reality, Art 2007, Slovak Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Art, Dom umenia,

Bratislava /Slovakia/ 2006 Miskolc Biennale of International Contemporary Graphic Art, Miskolc Gallery, Miskolc /Hungary/ Krajský salón 06, Šarišská galéria, Prešov /Slovakia/ Lino 2006, výstava výsledkov medzinár. sympózia linorytu, Galéria u bílého jednorožce, Klatovy /Czech Republic/ 2005 The Triennial of Contemporary Slovak Graphic Art, Banská Bystrica /Slovakia/ Koptárs Magyárs és Szlovák Képzomuveszek, Magyeháza Galériába, Miskolc /Hungary/ Katedrum, Galéria umelcov Spiša, Spišská Nová Ves /Slovakia/ 2004 Between Boarding. International Group exhibition, Miskolc, /Hungary/ International painting exhibition, Private gallery, Prešov /Slovakia/ Salón východoslovenských umelcov, Private gallery, Prešov /Slovakia/ Krajský salón 2004, Šarišská galéria, Prešov /Slovakia/ Persone: Water.

Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebišov /Slovakia/ Šarišská galéria, Prešov /Slovakia/ Podtatranské múzeum, Poprad /Slovakia/ 2003 5th International Triennial of Painting. Przemysl /Poland/ 2002 Arcade III. International Exhibition of Computer Generated Prints Almaty gallery, Almata /Kazakh Republic/ M´ARS Gallery, Moscow /Russia/ XIII. Súčasná slovenská grafika, Štátna galéria, Banská Bystrica /Slovakia/ Afiance&Interference. Contemporary Slovak Exhibition of Print Art and Glass Art, National Center, Bratislava /Slovakia/ On the Paper, Šarišské múzeum, Prešov /Slovakia/

2001 Gamut Exhibition, conference of digital creativity in art. Mackintosh Gallery, Glasgow /Poland/ School of Art – Glasgow /Great Britain/ Ar Cade III. International Exhibition of Digital Graphic Art. Gray’s School of Art Aberdeen /Great Britain/ Ar Cade III. The Surrey Insitute of Art and Design, University College /Great Britain/ Ar Cade III. Gallery of ARt and Design, London Guildhall University London /Great Britain/ 1st Art Exhibition of the African – International Fine Art Society. AAI Gallery, Vienna /Austria/ 2nd Collective Art Exhibition of The Africaan – International Fine Art Society – Museum Niedersulz. Vienna /Austria/ 2000 XIV. Trienále súčasnej slovenskej grafiky, State Gallery, Banská Bystrica /Slovakia/ 4th International painting Triennial Przemysl /Poland/ 6th International Graphic Triennial “Majdanek 2000”, Lublin /Poland/ 1999 GAMUT – Colville Place Gallery London /Great Britain/ CADE. International Computer Graphic Creative, Cleveland Gallery, Middlesbrough /Great Britain/ 1998 Die Frau und die Kunst, Music&Art Gallery, Bern /Switzerland/ Ibiza Graphic ´98. International Graphic Triennial, Ibiza /Spain/ 3rd International Triennial of Contemporary Painting “Silver Quadrangle”, Przemysl /Poland/ 1997 Kutani International Decorative Ceramics Fair ´97, Komatsu – Ishikawa, /Japan/ International Print Biennial Vama ´97 /Bulgaria/ International Minipainting Biennial, Szentendre /Hungary/ Kunst Unserer Nachbarn, Burg Perchltoldsdorf /Austria/ Bitola ´97, International Graphic Triennial of Contemporary Art, Bitola /Macedonia/ Majdanek ´97, 5. International Graphic Triennial, Lublin /Poland/ 1996 Salón ´96, UBS, Bratislava /Slovakia/ XIII. Trienale súčasnej slovenskej grafiky, Štátna galéria, Banská Bystrica /Slovakia/ Vox Humana ´96, Medzinárodné trienále mladých umelcov, Galéria M. Chagall, Ostrava /Czech Republic/ Triennial Sofia ´96, Medzinárodná výstava maľby, Sofia /Bulgaria/ Basic, Galéria J. Koniarka, Trnava /Slovakia/ 2nd Medzinárodné bienále maľby “Silver Quadrangle”, Przemysl /Poland/ XI. Medzinárodná výstava grafiky, Frechen /Germany/ 1995 2nd Medzinárodné sympózium maľby, Galéria Miró, Snina /Slovakia/ Salón ´95, Budva UBS, Bratislava /Slovakia/ Linolschnitt heute, Štátna galéria Biettingheim Bissinger /Germany/ 1st. International Exhibition de Arte /Prehliadka súčasných svetových trendov v maľbe mladých umelcov, Mexico City /Mexico/ 1994 Salón ´94, Spoločnosť voľných výtvarných umelcov, UBS, Bratislava /Slovakia/ Praha Graphic ´94, Spoločnosť voľných výtvarných umelcov, UBS, Bratislava /Slovakia/ Event in the East, Vlastivedné múzeum Trebišov, Šarišská galéria, Prešov, Zakarpatské múzeum umenia, Užhorod /Ukraine/ 1990 Salón mladých výtvarníkov, Oblastná galéria M. A. Bazovského, Trenčín Neon II., Košice /Slovakia/ 1989 1988 Humno ´88, Prehliadka mladých slov. výtvarníkov, Košice /Slovakia/ C + S Art, Galéria SVU, Košice, Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebišov /Slovakia/ Kresba ´90, Považská galéria, Žilina /Slovakia/ Trienále portrétu, Galéria M. Bohúňa, Liptovský Mikuláš /Slovakia/ Presporty, Prehliadka súčasného československého umenia, Múzeum SRR, Prešov /Slovakia/ Východoslovenskí výtvarníci, Galéria umelcov, Spišská Nová Ves /Slovakia/ Salón mladých výtvarníkov, Oblastná galéria M. A. Bazovského, Trenčín /Slovakia/

ENA BÁN / Lena Lešková Address: Karpatská 20, 040 01 Košice, Slovak Republic email: lenaleskova74@gmail.com tel./fax: 00421 55 6224200 Mobile: +421 908 993 077 www.bubanova.sk

Sponzored by Lucia Sariscanova Publisher: EnaBan Archa s.r.o., Košice, 2016 Košice, Slovakia, 2016 Editor: Lena Lešková Language Editing: Helen Craik Translation: David McLean Graphic Design: Martin Kubát Photography: Milan Bobula, Štefan Schmidt Marketing: Ivan Sariscan Administration: Agáta Vaňová Press: Polygrafické centrum, www.polygrafcentrum.sk ISBN 978-80-972443-0-9