Ján Mančuška: (Con)texts

The exhibition of Ján Mančuška’ presents the work of this leading Czech contemporary artist for the first time ever in Ostrava. Mančuška’s art has won international renown, as reflected in the list of prominent galleries whose collections include his works – the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Meyer Riegger Gallery in Germany, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York. Ostrava’s Gallery of Fine Arts has now joined this list by purchasing two of Mančuška’s works in 2018: I Turn Towards the Corner Guided by the Walls, and Middle-aged Woman.

The curator’s decision to present just these two works at the exhibition was motivated by the knowledge that grasping and understanding Mančuška’s art is a highly demanding process, as well as the fact that displaying these installations in a generous and uncluttered space will make the artistic experience even more intensely powerful.

The exhibition does not set out to present Mančuška’s work in its entirety – instead it shows just two manifestations of one of his core creative endeavours, in which he explored texts as a means of artistic expression and communication.

The plan of GVUO is to display acquired works either individually or in collective exhibitions as part of the Acquisitions 2018 series. This series of events will create an established platform for presenting these artists and their work to the broadest possible public – so the acquisitions will not only benefit the gallery’s collections; they will also bring powerful intangible benefits by enriching the region’s cultural life.