By Keri Hayes
Arizona Daily Wildcat
From places as far away as the Slovak Republic and as close as California, the University of Arizona Museum of Art has brought together a series of artists reflecting on their relationships to their individual communities.
"Contemporary Slovak Art: Works on Paper" grew out of International Partnerships Among Museums, a program through which assistant director Lee Karpiscak arranged for contemporary Slovak art to be featured at the UA and for Arizona artists to show at the Gal‚ria mesta Bratislavy, the municipal gallery of the Slovak Republic's capital city of Bratislava.
Art was vehemently suppressed under bureaucratic communism, which set out an official course of suitability designed to uphold conformity. The Velvet Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist government, allowing artists to show their work more freely.
The work of the 10 Slovak artists on exhibit at the UA Museum of Art reflects the history of creative struggle and the joy of newfound freedom in the establishment of the Slovak Republic.
Graphic art was traditionally popular among Slovak artists, as it conformed to "official" communist art more than other forms. Nevertheless, the exhibition features a variety of styles and mediums, most pieces done in the 1990s. Mezzotints, lithographs and etchings found objects and mixed media works are all presented.
Many of the Slovak artists work with very abstract notions, perhaps in an attempt to emphasize a particular aspect of content. Vladim¡r Gazovic delves into the meaning of civilization, its relation to nature and alternative peace with his abstract lithographs. Gazovic's work is effective because he forces viewers to consider his work closely, as much of his illustration is quite intricate, inadvertently prompting the audience to think about the meaning of his work.
Agnesa Sigetov worked with a Slovak composer and interpreter, Igor Janc r, to create an interesting collage of music, art and composition in a piece titled "Illustration to Igor Janc r's Score: Mythic Atiahulco."
Sigetov describes the triangle that the Earth's three points of extraordinary creative energy form in text accompanying her
piece. Interestingly, one point is located in present day Slovakia and another in Arizona with the Hopi tribe. The collage itself is formed of a series of blocks of illustration, some covered with arrows forming triangles and other geometric figures. The illustrations themselves contain awe-inspiring, larger-than-life birds and human figures, but a few blocks composed of torn-up silver paper really detract from the entire piece. There does not seem to be a purpose for the drab color and unappealing texture of the few blocks. What works very well with Sigetov 's piece is a collection of music sheets she has altered and illustrated with surreal, defensive figures, meant to exaggerate her feelings of existential endangerment.
Also on exhibit at the UA Museum of Art is Shirley Cannon's "Veins, Tailings and Other Remnants," an interesting reflection of UA alumna Cannon's youth in a coal mining camp 10 miles outside of Morgantown, W.Va. Cannon graduated from the UA in 1988 and now lives in California.
Cannon examines the paradox of her native environment: the toxicity of the pollution combined with the beauty she finds in many of those images. Cannon uses objects relating to her childhood environment combined with latex sheets manipulated into sulphur waterfalls and blackened rock formations.
Cannon also examines the implications of human interaction with these toxic mining environments. One piece, "Near Caretta," combines body prints in coal dust on large sheets of rice paper with the textures of coal and bubbly metals to create an almost morbid confrontation of how we as human beings often undermine our own existence to function in everyday life and earn a living.
Cannon's most striking piece is "Sulphur Falls," a bright yellow latex sculpture that cascades 40 feet down and off the gallery wall. The piece is reminiscent of the yellow-tinged creeks of Cannon's youth.
The two exhibits will continue at the UA Museum of Art through Nov. 20. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 621-7567.