Blažej Baláž
Blažej Baláž (born October 29, 1958, in Nevoľné, Slovakia, former Czechoslovakia) is a contemporary Slovak artist. His practise as an artist is usually associated with Neo-conceptualism, Postminimalism, Post-Geo and Post Radical Painting. After 1988 he began working with text as art, neo-conceptual and post-conceptual texts (intext, outtext).
Life and work
Baláž studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bratislava and his Magister of Fine Arts degree received in 1983. Baláž has been the Head of Department of Fine Arts Education at the University of Trnava since 1999. He was a founder member of the artists group East of Eden (1998). Since 1979, he has been married to the artist Maria Balazova. He lives and works in Trnava.
He has shown work internationally in exhibitions including the Drawing 1990, Provo, USA (1990), Vth International Drawing Triennale, Wrocław (1992), 12th International Biennale of Small Sculpture, Murska Sobota (1995), International Biennale of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (1989, 1995, 1999), Object / Object. Prague, Czech Museum of Fine Arts (2001), Intertext / From the conceptual to postconceptual text,[1] Ján Koniarek Gallery, Trnava (2009)[1], Formats of Transformation 89 – 09 / Seven views on the new Czech and Slovak identity, House of Art, Brno (2009).
Solo exhibitions (retrospective): Geld macht Kunst, Ján Koniarek Gallery, Trnava (2003) [2], Blažej Baláž Texts 1988/2007, The East Slovak Gallery, Košice (2007), Museum of Fine Arts, Žilina (2007), SUCHARATOLEST House of Art, Bratislava (2009), WARTEZEIT, Slowakisches Institut Wien (2009), Post-Geo-Text (with Mária Balážová), Slowakisches Institut Berlin (2011).
His works are held in the public collections of Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, National Gallery in Prague (CZ), Muzeum Archidiecezjalne, Katowice (PL), Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (NL), Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava [3], East Slovakian Gallery Košice, City Gallery [4], Bratislava, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica [5].
Selected solo exhibitions
- Blažej Baláž / Painting, drawing, installations, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, 1 July - 16 August 1992 (catalogue)
- Postscriptum II, City Gallery of Bratislava, Bratislava, 16 December 1993 – 30 January 1994
- Gutten Tag, Frau Koppl, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, 18 February – 23 March 1997
- Geld macht frei, Vojtech Löffler Museum, Košice, 15 November – 30 December 2000 (catalogue)
- Mária and Blažej Baláž : The Discreet Charm of the Painting , House of Art, Česke Budějovice, 27 March – 21 April 2002
- Geld macht Kunst, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, 12 June – 18 August 2003
- Texts 1988 / 2007, The East-Slovakian Gallery, Košice, 21 June – 23 July 2007 (catalogue);
- Texts 1988 / 2007, Museum of Fine Arts, Žilina, 13 September – 14 October 2007 (catalogue);
- SUCHARATOLEST, House of Art, Bratislava, 13 May – 8 June 2009
- WARTERAUM , Slowakisches Institut, Vienna, 27 May – 22 June 2009 (catalogue);
- Conceptual texts, Liptov Gallery of P. M. Bohúň, Liptovský Mikuláš, 10 February – 9 April 2011
- Mária Balážová-Blažej Baláž : Post-Geo-Text, Slowakisches Institut, Berlin, 14 April – 30 May 2011
Selected group exhibitions
- Art Basel 19´88, Basel, Switzerland, 1988
- 18th International Print Biennale, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1989
- Ľ Europe des Graveurs, Grenoble, Bibliothèque Municipale, France, 1989
- Drawing 1990, Provo, USA, 1990
- 9.Internationale Grafik Triennale, Frechen, Kunstferein zu Frechen, Germany, 1990
- Vth International Drawing Triennale, Wroclaw, Poland, 1992
- 12th International Biennale of Small Sculpture, Murska Sobota, Slovenia, 1995
- Seitenwechsel, Heidelberg, Heidelberger Schlos, Germany, 1995
- Picturale, Est, Strasbourg, France, 1997
- Object / Object. Metamorphoses in Time, The Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic, 2001
- The Art of Action, 1989-2000, Poprad, Tatra Gallery, Nitra, Nitra Gallery, 2001
- New End of Painting, Trnava, Jan Koniarek Gallery, 2002
- Contemporary Slovak Painting 2000-2005, City Gallery of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic, 2005
- Intertext / From conceptual to postconceptual text, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, Slovakia, 2009
- Formate der Transformation 89-09, MUSA - Museum auf Abruf, Vienna, Austria, 2010
- After Hours : Phase 2 / Artists from Slovakia, Santa Ana, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, USA, 2010
Works
- Mechanical Paradise (1988/1990)
- HROBONJOUR (1992) [6]
- Artwart (1997) [7]
- Skarabeus (1997) [8] [9]
- Memory 2 / Unpowdered painting (1998)
- Mandala 4 / Black (1997/2000) [10]
- Geld macht frei (2001) [11]
- Mandala 5 (2001) [12]
- Poppy Seed Field (2001/02)- Monochrome painting [13]
- Mandala 15 (2003) [14]
- GODSAVEUS (2003) [15]
- The Art of kill (2004) [16]
- WETRUSTIN (2004–07)
- Treptomachia. EN – A / How to domesticate the English language (2005/06)
- Treptomachia. DE – B / How to domesticate the German language (2006)
- WARTERAUM (2007)
- WARTEZEIT (2007)
- SUCHARATOLEST (2008)
- SLOVENSKY (2006/09)
- BESTEHLEN (2007/09)[17]
- BESTOCKEN (2007/09)
Books, catalogues
- VALOCH, J. – VARTECKÁ, A. 2003. Blažej Baláž. Trnava : Trnava University, East of Eden, 132 p. (In English and Slovak) ISBN 80-89074-22-7
- BESKID, V. – GAJDOŠ, R. 2007. Blažej Baláž : Texts 1988 /2007. Trnava : East of Eden, Trnava University, 48 p. (In English and Slovak) ISBN 80-8082-129-6
- BALÁŽ, B. 2009. The Texts of the Texts. Trnava : Trnava University, 30 p. ISBN 978-80-8082-314-6
References
Further reading
- ž.u.m. (= URRA MUENA, Ž.).1992. Blažej Baláž. In Saur Allgemeines Künstler – Lexikon, band 6. Mϋnchen, Leipzig : K.G.Saur. (D)
- BARTOŠOVÁ, Z. 1995. Blažej Baláž. In 12th International Biennial of Small Sculpture. Murska Sobota : Galerija Murska Sobota, p. 158-159 (SL)
- GERŽOVÁ, J. 1999. Junk art. In Dictionary of World and Slovak Fine Art in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Bratislava : Kruh súčasného umenia Profil, p. 285
- VRBANOVÁ, A. 2000. New Form in Graphic Art. In RUSINOVÁ, Z. et al. 2000. Art of the 20th century. Bratislava : Slovak National Gallery, p. 114-116
- VALOCH, J. 2001. The Connotation of Powdered Painting. In Ateliér, vol.14, no.6, 22.3.2001, p. 9, Prague (CZ)
- BESKID, V. 2003. Geld macht Kunst. Macht Kunst Geld? In Profil, vol. X, no.2/2003, p. 128-131
- ADAM, R. – ROBERTSON, C. 2007. Intaglio. London : Thames & Hudson, p. 29 (UK)
- BÖHMEROVÁ, Z. – JANČÁR, I. 2007. Slovak Graphics of the 20th Century. Bratislava : City Gallery, 2007, p. 195, 285, 304, 312
- BARTOŠOVÁ, Z. 2007. 20th Century. In Art in Slovakia / Summary History of Pictures. Bratislava. Bratislava : Slovart, p. 224
- GAJDOŠ, R. 2008. The projection of linguistic thinking to contemporary fine arts.. In SCHNEIDER, J. – KRAUSOVA, L. 2008 (eds). Intermediality: Word – image – sound. Olomouc : University of J. E. Palacký, 334 p. [p. 223-229] (CZ)
- VALOCH, J. 2009. Venice In-Between Geometry and Concept. Ateliér, vol.22, no.18, p. 4, 10.9.2009 (CZ)
- GERŽOVÁ, B. 2009. From plaster to chewing gum – Author's techniques, Nitra : Nitra Gallery, p. 5, 9, 44, 45
- BESKID, V. 2009. From a Political Space toward a Public One. In KOWOLOWSKI, F. (ed.) 2009. Formats of Transformation 89 – 09 / Seven views on the new Czech and Slovak identity. Brno : House of Art, p. 14 – 17, 200 (CZ)
- KNÍŽÁK, M. – VLČEK, T. (eds.). 2009. 909 / Art from the Turn of the Millennium in the National Gallery in Prague 1990 - 2009. Prague - National Gallery, p. 362 (CZ)
- GAJDOŠ, R. 2010. Conceptual Text / Genesis and Metamorphosis. Trnava : Typi Univesitatis Tyrnaviensis and Veda, p. 11, 12, 76, 87, 89, 99, 101, 104, 105, 128 (SK)
External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Baláž, Blažej |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Slovak artist |
| Date of birth |
October 29, 1958 |
| Place of birth |
Nevoľné |
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
![[6]](http://www.nevolne.sk/images/stories/clanky/b_balaz3.jpg){kind=link}