The international group exhibition METAL presents a selection of works by a young generation of visual artists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria, focusing on the forms, emotions and communicative abilities of the materials used.

METAL
Artists: Anežka Hošková, Martin Chramosta, Filip Dvořák & Martin Kolarov, Ján Kekeli, Štefan Papčo, Edita Štrajtová & Barbora Volfová
Curated by  Michal Stolárik
17 November 2023 – 14 January, 2024 2024
Ján Koniarek Gallery, Trnava

The international group exhibition METAL presents a selection of works by a young generation of visual artists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria, focusing on the forms, emotions and communicative abilities of the materials used. The curatorial project is inspired by the intersection of semantic meanings and connotations offered by the word ‘metal’ in its English-Slovak translation. On the one hand, it communicates the expressiveness, heaviness, theatricality or fantasy of the musical genre; on the other hand, it focuses on the visual and practical qualities of the metal material, which is traditionally solid and at the same time aesthetically or emotionally cold, inhospitable and dramatic.

Although the concept of the exhibition is conditioned by the specific choice of materials and the inclination towards a certain atmosphere, their resulting forms and even aesthetic qualities, various themes and micro-stories develop against a background of related visual sensations. The exhibited works tend towards a fascination with nature and the outdoor landscape. In their conception, it looks harsh and inhospitable, resisting human and external influences. It serves as a source of inspiration, is imaginative, magical, transformative, aesthetically appealing and lyrical. It is both a place of escape and a secure base. Its natural wildness is close to romanticism, but the lonely protagonist is absent in this case.

The absence of figurative compositions is balanced by the visible intervention of human, which is manifested through the processing of materials, the use of technological processes, but also by a clear interest in seriality or the principles of repetition and variation. Raw materials are transformed into stylized iron or steel drawings. At times geometrically abstract, at other times more concrete, they develop personal mythologies and symbols, drawing inspiration from art history or history, working with fiction and admitting a flirtation with spirituality. The multimedia selection of works focuses mainly on spatial forms of contemporary visual art, with the dominant forms including objects, sculptures, installations and photographic and watercolour series.