JURAJ KOLLÁR: SURVEY
On the cover: detail of Surface, 2018, Oil on canvas, 94 ½ x 141 ¾ inches (240 x 360 cm)
JURAJ KOLLÁR: SURVEY February 23 through March 27, 2021
JURAJ KOLLÁR: SURVEY February 23 through March 27, 2021
INTRODUCTION:
A
ccording to art historian Katarina Bajcurová, Juraj Kollár is regarded as “the most naturally gifted and pertinacious painter of his generation” as well as “the central figure of young…contemporary painting in Slovakia.” Kollár’s works can be found in the collections of the Slovak National Gallery and the National Gallery in Prague and have been exhibited in prestigious art fairs including Art Cologne and SP–Arte. “In the course of a few years he has managed to create, to paint, a relatively respectable body of work…and to achieve a number of prestigious awards in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany,” according to Bajcurová. Kollár simultaneously works in multiple genres including landscape/”nonlandscape,” figurative, pixelation and non-objective abstracts, and has developed innovative processes unique to each. The exhibition at Rosenbaum Contemporary presents a survey of representative works from each of his major genres. Kollár’s landscapes/”non-landscapes” are painted from the perspective of looking out through a window upon abstraction versus looking “in” to the painting. Though he works from photographs, Kollár’s paintings are not photorealistic. He employs various methods to distort the image and create abstraction. Some works are painted through breeze block walls, either through an existing wall or one that he creates in the environment. The resulting effect breaks the scene into multiple abstract components that, together, form a cohesive whole. In painting his landscapes, Kollár also adds elements that were not in the original scene, but that he feels should be there.
“I fill space with obstacles, which redefine, deform, or veil the visual perception of reality,” Kollár said. “I am trying to capture the light-atmosphere and the physical feeling of the state of an event.” Even when painting from a photograph, he deliberately retains the grain to diffuse and blur the picture to capture the overall atmosphere of the scene versus its details. The figurative works in the Survey exhibition come from Kollár’s Thoughtful series, life-size portraits of students at Harvard listening to a lecture on Imannuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, which Kollár painted from a video he downloaded from YouTube. His goal was to capture each student’s personality using just a few brushstrokes while capturing each at the exact moment of thinking about the lecture they heard. Kollár’s pixelated pictures, a cross between pointillism and impressionism, incorporate construction netting, either painted through and removed or painted on and left in place, which has the effect of supporting the paint, enabling him to apply much more pigment than could be supported by the canvas alone. When his landscapes contain figures, they are often blurred so as to “melt” into the work. Kollár’s non-representational paintings contain no ties to objective reality and are often titled only with numbers. They result, not from an idea, but from his process and are explorations of how the paint works as a physical material on the canvas including how it occupies space, how it responds to gravity, light, and other colors, and how it can be manipulated by brushes and other instruments and materials. The resulting compositions express a mood, and these experiments in abstraction often make their way into Kollár’s other works.
THE WORKS
View from Bobur 2009 Oil on canvas 76 ¾ x 152 ¾ inches (195 x 388 cm)
Surface 2018 Oil on canvas 94 ½ x 141 ¾ inches (240 x 360 cm)
Residential Zone I 2016 Oil on canvas 78 ¾ x 106 ¼ inches (200 x 270 cm)
Evening Landscape 2016 Oil on canvas 66 7/8 x 90 ½ inches (170 x 230 cm)
Girl at the Promenade I 2020 Oil on canvas 98 3/8 x 78 ¾ inches (250 x 200 cm)
Girl at the Promenade II 2020 Oil on canvas 98 3/8 x 78 ¾ inches (250 x 200 cm)
After Francis Bacon I 2019 Mixed media 94 ½ x 70 7/8 inches (240 x 180 cm)
After Francis Bacon II 2019 Mixed media 94 ½ x 70 7/8 inches (240 x 180 cm)
Thoughtful 1 2014 Oil on canvas 13 ¾ x 10 5/8 inches (35 x 27 cm)
Thoughtful 2 2014 Oil on canvas 13 x 10 5/8 inches (33 x 27 cm)
Thoughtful 3 2014 Oil on canvas 13 x 10 5/8 inches (33 x 27 cm)
020819 2019 Oil on canvas 16 1/8 x 24 1/8 inches (41 x 61 cm)
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 1981
Born, Slovakia
EDUCATION 2003–2005
Academy of Fine Arts; Prague, Czech Republic
1999–2003
Academy of Fine Arts and Design; Bratislava, Slovakia
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2020
Juraj Kollár, Považska Gallery of Arts; Žilina, Slovakia Felt, stars, light green twine, maybe blue, silver screws, wire copper tubes…; Stará čistírna odpadních vod v Bubenči; Prague, Czech Republic Buoy; Zahorian & Van Espen; Bratislava, Slovakia
2019
Time spent; Galeria 19; Bratislava, Slovakia
2018 Gradual Perception; Hot Dock Project Space; Bratislava, Slovakia 0105; Zahorian & Van Espen; Prague, Czech Republic 2017
Out–of–Lines; Zahorian & Van Espen; Bratislava, Slovakia
2016
Living Area, Stredoslovenská galleria v Banskej Bystrici, Slovakia Intermittent Signal; Kubik Gallery; Porto, Portugal
2015
Reported Painting; Ernest Zmetak Art Gallery; Nove Zamky, Slovakia Lasting Objectivity of Dailiness; Slovak Institute; Rome, Italy
2014 Luxurious Desert under the Sky of Paris; Zahorian & Van Espen; Bratislava, Slovakia Thoughtful; Victoria’s Gallery; Paris, France 2013
La presence est le soufflé qui touché la grille; Victoria’s Gallery; Paris, France
2012
October 30–December 1; Zahorian & Van Espen; Bratislava, Slovakia Bratislava–Paris–Bratislava; French Institut; Bratislava, Slovakia
2009
Infusion; Slovak Union of Visual Arts; Bratislava, Slovakia Fundamental Perception; Michal Gallery; Prague, Czech Republic
2008 Ontological Argument; Trafačka; Prague, Czech Republic Juraj Kollár; Kressling Gallery; Bratislava, Slovakia 2006
Malerei Juraj Kollár; Kunstraum B; Kiel, Germany
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2020 viennacontemporary; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Vienna, Austria Nultá Generace; Jihlava, Czech Republic 2019 viennacontemporary; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Vienna, Austria Art Cologne; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Cologne, Germany 2018 viennacontemporary; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Vienna, Austria SP-ARTE; represented by Kubik Gallery; São Paulo, Brazil 2017 Untitled Art Fair; represented by Kubik Gallery; Miami Beach, Florida viennacontemporary; represented by Kubik Gallery; Vienna, Austria SCOPE; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Basel, Switzerland SCOPE New York, represented by Zahorian & Van Espen, New York SP-ARTE; represented by Kubik Gallery; São Paulo, Brazil 2016 YIA–Young International Artists #7; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Paris, France viennacontemporary; represented by Kubik Gallery; Vienna, Austria SCOPE Basel; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Basel, Switzerland YIA–Young International Artists #6; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Brussels, Belgium ARTEFIERA; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Bologna, Italy 2015 YIA–Young International Artists #5; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Paris, France Reconstructions; Slovak National Gallery; Bratislava, Slovakia ROMA VERSO EXPO Artisticamente…; Palazzo Vittoriano; Rome, Italy La Confidentielle du YIA #2; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Paris, France ARTEFIERA; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Bologna, Italy 2014
7th New Zlín Salon 2014, Regional Gallery of Fine Arts; Zlín, Czech Republic
2013
La Belle Peinture II, Pekná mal´ba II; Pisztory Palace; Bratislava, Slovakia J’étais à la maison et j’attendais que la pluie vienne; French Institute; Bratislava, Slovakia ARTEFIERA; represented by Zahorian & Van Espen; Bologna, Italy
2012
Juraj Kollár–Pavla Sceranková; House of Arts; Zlín, Czech Republic
2011
Disarming; Cyprian Majernik Gallery; Bratislava, Czech Republic Painting after Painting; Slovak National Gallery; Bratislava, Czech Republic
2010 Obrazy a plastiky–Juraj Kollár, Zdeňek Chmelař; Gallery Lapidarium; Prague, Czech Republic Collection MB 1930–2010; Cyprian Majernik Gallery; Bratislava, Slovakia Kollar–Krivosikova–Lacko–Podoba; Kubik Gallery; Porto, Portugal Young Painting–Collection of Municipal Gallery; Palffy Palace; Bratislva, Slovakia Malba a její přesahy; Adria Palace; Prague, Czech Republic 2009
Celeste Prize; Alte AEG Fabrik; Berlin, Germany Salon of Young Artists; House of Arts; Zlîn, Czech Republic
AWARDS 2010 VUB Painting, first prize; Bratislava, Slovakia Nomination, Prize of the Critics, Palace Adria; Prague, Czech Republic 2009 Celeste Prize, third prize; Berlin, Germany Igor Kalný Award, Salon of Young Artists; Zlin, Czech Republic 2007
Prize of the Critics, first prize; Bratislava, Slovakia
COLLECTIONS Slovak National Gallery; Bratislava, Slovakia National Gallery; Prague, Czech Republic Bratislava City Gallery; Bratislava, Slovakia Kysucká galleria v Čadci; Čadca, Slovakia Krajská galerie výtvarného umění ve Zlíně, Czech Republic Nitrianska galleria; Nitra, Slovakia Galéria umenia Ernesta Zmetáka v Nových Zámkoch, Slovakia
Published by:
For the occasion of the exhibition Juraj Kollár: Survey February 23 through March 27, 2021 All artwork © Juraj Kollár © 2021 Rosenbaum Fine Art, Inc. Rosenbaum Contemporary 150 Yamato Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431 T 561.994.9180 www.rosenbaumcontemporary.com