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House of Art
TUES–SUN 10:00–18:00

Street Washing

1977

wood, rope, metal, textile (object), 40 × 40.3 × 4 cm

This work belongs to the cycle Banalities, which reflects Tóth’s shift away from painting and into the domain of post-conceptual art. In his own words, the value of the cycle “lies in the fact that I took my possibility to be an author and tore it into fragments, which somebody else used to compose the image of a poet”. Footprints are a characteristic feature of Tóth’s work; he works with them on a number of levels, such as painting footprints on an asphalt road (Grass / Darkness, 1976) or creating and recording footprints in snow, using specially modified soles bearing the negative of a bird’s footprint (Footprints, 1979). Viewed conceptually, behind the footprints we can discern motion, processuality and a reference to a person engaging in a dialogue with the landscape; this reflects not only Tóth’s own thought processes as an action artist, but also the contemporary art scene as a whole.

TÓTH DEZIDER

1947, Výčapy-Opatovce) Conceptual artist, painter, graphic artist, performer, installation artist. Tóth ranks among the most prominent Slovak conceptual artists. Since 1997 he has used the synonym “Monogramista T. D.”. From 1966 to 1972 he studied at the painting studio of Bratislava’s Academy of Fine Arts (under Professor Peter Matejka). From 1991 to 2015 he taught at his alma mater in Bratislava, and in 2002 he was appointed professor of intermedia art at Prague’s Academy of Fine Arts. Besides his work as a painter, since the 1960s Tóth has explored the possibilities of theatre, contemporary film and literature. In 1966 he was a co-founder of the POMIMO theatre, where he also performed; this influenced his tendencies towards performative art. In the second half of the 1960s Tóth was influenced by the artists Jan Steklík and Karel Nepraš and their “School for Pure Humour Without Wit”; he created an extensive series comprising dozens of drawings that combined textual elements with anecdotal and absurdist aspects. In 1970 he took part in Rudolf Sikora’s first “open studio”. Tóth’s work features numerous textual elements, as well as taking a conceptual approach to musical scores and natural motifs. In the 1980s he began to apply his conceptual approach to objects and handcrafted books. In 1991 he moved into teaching, heading the so-called “Non-Studio” at his alma mater in Bratislava. He was awarded the Dominik Tatarka Prize for his autobiography I’m not an author, I’m a metaphor (2011).
photographic record, canvas, 121.7 × 81 cm, purchased in 2021 with funding from the Czech Ministry of Culture
1977

Koan II

Girl in a fur

Girl in a fur

undated
Old Eroticism

Old Eroticism

1996
Concrete (Below a Slag-Heap)

Concrete (Below a Slag-Heap)

1983
Wallachian Madonna

Wallachian Madonna

1921
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