Limits of Surrealism / Emil Sedlák & Karol Baron

The exhibition at the Gallery of Spiš Artists interprets works in the Gallery’s collection by artists whose creative approaches follow in the footsteps of surrealism. The project, which is presented as part of the Collection dramaturgical cycle, reveals the artists’ dilemmas over their stance towards creativity and life and reflects upon the search for thematic correspondences between works which range from graphic works and paintings to sculptures.

Karol Baron enriches his works with specific elements of black humour, absurd metamorphoses and shocking grotesques. Emil Sedlák is frequently inspired by animal motifs in which he personifies human behaviour and the conflict between the worlds of nature and civilization.

The art of Karol Baron is represented in the Gallery’s collection by 18 works. The imaginary world of the artist’s thinking is represented by the triptych of paintings titled “Spoločný svet s Aurelianom Daguetom” [Shared World with Aurelian Daguet] (1987). In 2016 the Collection was expanded by five graphic works and ten sculptures of variable games. The imaginative and figural compositions are archetypal examples of surrealist concepts and formal deformations, and they are marked by a distinctive artistic rendering along with a healthy dose of expressive and absurdist elements. The artist has created his own fantastical figures and mutations which are strongly characterised by anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and vegetative elements. The works are divided into cycles whose visual absurdity is intensified by their unusual titles, with the series of collages, pastel compositions, multi-formatted oil paintings, paper puzzles, assemblages and sculptures form forming three-dimensional variable installations.

Emil Sedlák is represented in the Gallery’s collection by 78 works: the graphics, drawings and paintings all share the surrealistic force of the artist’s ideas and implications. The prose poem titled Les Chants de Maldoror [The Songs of Maldoror] was seen by many surrealists as a revolutionary work, and its author, Isadore Ducasse writing under the nom de plume of the Comte de Lautréamont, was heralded as a predecessor to the surrealist movement. Initially influenced by metaphysics before discovering surrealism, Emil Sedlák created pastel works for each individual song in de Lautréamont’s poem in works which conceal a multitude of philosophical and moral interpretations. His art praises good by way of evil, offering grotesque depictions of debauchery and depravity, and posing questions about the true nature of the human condition.

Mgr. Kamila Paceková, exhibition curator

About the artists

Karol Baron was born on 13. 9. 1939 in Levoča. From 1963 – 1969 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (under Peter Matejka and Dezider Milly). He worked mainly in painting and drawing, and he also created designs for architecture and tapestries. He died on 29. 2. 2004 in Paris.

Emil Sedlák was born on 5. 4. 1938 in Spišské Podhradie. From 1958 – 1964 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (under Peter Matejka and Vincent Hložník). He works in free graphics, book illustration, painting and sculptural works for architecture.