By
Vanessa Francis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Two new exhibits showcase collection of paintings
Two new, unrelated exhibits opened Sunday at the University of Arizona Museum of Art - a collection of paintings by the late artist Rudolf Baranik and a multi-media presentation and sculpture exhibit by the brother and sister team of Ondrej Rudavsky and Zuzana Rudavska.
The Baranik exhibit is composed of all black and white paintings, which he painted as reflections of death and politics.
"His art deals with the way he dealt with modern society. It is about death and poetry," said David Craven, an art historian and critic and a long-time friend to Baranik.
Baranik's life companion and fellow artist May Stevens agreed.
"He spoke of things important to everyone - war and peace, life and death....he was subtle and poetic and quiet," she said.
As well as being a visual artist, Baranik, along with his partner Stevens, also wrote essays on many of the same issues that his art addressed, samples of which are also on display at the museum.
During the 1960s and 70s, Baranik was a popular artist. He was also active in the anti-Vietnam War movement, and served on the American Artist Honor Committee, along with Yoko Ono and poet Allen Ginsberg. Posters for the committee which Baranik created are also on display.
All work is on loan from Baranik's estate, with the exception of the piece "One Light," which Stevens owns.
"As he was painting that, I said 'I want that one' and he said 'OK,'" Stevens said. "I liked that it was soft, but with one light, one strip of brightness."
Baranik died from heart disease in 1998.
"I remember him as brilliant and kind and funny, and his work is like that as well - not funny though," Stevens said.
Another exhibit, which opened this weekend, is "Connections: Video & Installation," a contemporary video and sculpture collection by Chezokslavakia natives Rudasky and Rudavska.
The Rudavsky exhibition is a video montage of his experimental animation and video music work.
Portions of the 20-minute montage feature the animation-pixilation film "Atomic Man."
"It is about people trying to find themselves and a destination in this crazy world, and looking for a creator and a soul," Rudavsky said.
He said that the presentation is only a small portion of his work, as he aspires to work on full-length motion pictures in the future, as well as some music videos for classical music.
"This is just a little demo of my work....a small part of me," he said. "I'm a Renaissance man."
Rudavsky said that although the medium of animation limits the viewer's experience with the art work, there is a connection in some form.
"This is work that you can't touch, only your soul can," he said.
Part of the exhibition, dubbed "Connections," also features the art work of sculptor Rudavska, in combination with Rudavsky's work.
Each of the pieces were created separately by each artist, but the siblings said that they discovered that their work bore some similarities.
"We are the same level, and our work is somewhat similar and it influences each other," Rudavska said.
Rudavska's piece "Composition of Light," a vertical piece of stainless steel netting that hangs from the ceiling, is accented by Rudavsky's "Table of Light"- animation projected on to a round table set on its side.
Those pieces are further complemented by portions of Rudavsky's "Atomic Man" as it is projected on a screen at the back of the room, and Rudavska's sculpture "Nest" made of wire raffia and fiber materials, that hangs nearby.
"I did that one 12 years ago, when I first came to the U.S.," she said. "It's about finding a home and a destination....like 'Atomic Man.' It was actually hanging in my apartment for years."
Their work can also be viewed at the Obsidian Gallery, 4340 N. Campbell Ave., suite 90.
