Július Koller
"I am interested in synthesis (combination, fusion) of a 'game' and 'ordinary life' - violation, obscuration of boundaries, of seclusion, of finality of the game entangled 'vaguely' into life - such 'game of mine' does not end it keeps happening in an uncertain rhythm and intensity - it is 'culture of life' (...) I would like to make 'life' a cultural game with just and solid rules for everyone"
Born in 1939 in Piešťany, Slovakia and died in 2007 in Bratislava, Slovakia. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava in 1965 and he showed his first solo exhibition in this year. From the early 1960s he started to work out his aesthetic concept, Anti-happening (System of Subjective Objectivity) focusing on the cultural issues in a more attentive way. He made a manifesto in 1965, where he stated the meaning and method of Anti-happening. His actions, objects, texts and conceptual works show up in a simple form highlighting the underlying content. From the 1970s he began his U.F.O. (Universal-cultural Futurological Operation) series with question mark symbols and UFO-naut self-portraits, symbolizing utopian ideas and internal escaping from real life.
He has shown his solo projects in Vienna (Mumok-2017), Warsaw (Museum of Modern Art-2015), Paris (gb agency-2015, 2012) and Mexico (Kurimanzutto-2012). His work has been exhibited in numerous group shows all around the world: Plzeň, The West Bohemian Gallery (2018), Budapest, Ludwig Museum (2015), Wrocław, Muzeum Współczesne Wrocław (2015) and in Metz, Centre-Pompidou Metz (2013) among others. His works can be found in the collection of Centre Pompidou in Paris, Tate Modern in London, Museum of Art Łódź, Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava and in other public and private collections.
serigraph on paper, 11 x 16,7 cm
stamping, 11.5 x 16.5 cm