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24/11/2023/
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Galerija Terra
Jozef Klaćik – SPACE X
Jozef Klaćik – PROSTOR X
Jozef Klaćik, painter, graphic artist, and multimedia artist, was born in 1949 in Stara Pazova. He graduated from the Bogdan Šuput School of Applied Arts in Novi Sad in 1969. He enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava in 1970, where he obtained his master’s degree in 1976. Following his graduation, he worked as a Graphic Art Editor at Novi Sad’s Editorial Office Obzor and Hlas ľudu. He was later employed as a lecturer at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts. He has exhibited at about a thousand collective and 30 solo exhibitions in the country and abroad. He spent time on study trips in Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic. He has received 20 awards both domestically and internationally. He is a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Vojvodina and Serbia, the Association of Slovak Graphic Artists and the Association of Writers of Vojvodina.
-Space has always played a major role in Jozef Klaćik’s work. Throughout his life, he experimented extensively with different mediums and working techniques, which altered his perspective on painting and visual art in general. The author transitioned from hyperrealism to geometric abstraction to neo-expressionism in his latter works. But if we look closely at the titles of his pieces, we can see that they are evocative, haven’t quite broken away from the conceptual realm, and contain overt allusions to his perception of space. The addition of the letter “X” alludes to the unfamiliar, the hard to understand, a riddle that has been presented to the viewer, or the freedom of interpretation. It is an invitation for the spectator to see and remember certain moments from their own life. We get to see a mature, condensed picture of the field of vision as well as a succinct, minimalist approach as part of this exhibition.
Jozef Klaćik’s abstract forms, displayed on three-dimensional canvases, will showcase his well-established and secure style, fitting into the space between painting and sculpture. The emphasis on the geometric division of broken coloristic forms, which simultaneously symbolize continuity and discontinuity of rigid and solid opposing lines, highlights the purity of his serene yet dynamic compositions. These lines — which are nearly invariably seen in the artist’s later creative work — serve as both the connecting thread of the art piece and its guiding principle, directing the viewer’s gaze and generating the dynamics and events. These pieces exhibit an outstanding sense of form along with a fully developed painter’s sensibility. These “spatial forms”, as the artist calls them, are the result of many years of research in the medium of painting and, more broadly, sculpture, and as such show composure and a sovereign, long-established artistic intent.
Alena Klaćikova
