DOI article:
Bartošová, Zuzana: From the Scene to the Clandestine: International Activities of Artists on the Unofficial Slovak Art Scene 1973-1976 (from the 2nd Slovak Visual Artists' Union Congress, 2.11.1972 to Charter '77, 1.1.1977)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51713#0223
to participate in the Surrealist exhibition in Paris. Since
the artist could not send his work by official channels,
on this occasion, too, he sent his coloured ink draw-
ings by ordinary post. In addition, he had several solo
exhibitions in Great Britain. The organizer, Frédéric
John England, paid a personal visit to Karol Baron
in Zilina and drove the collection, consisting of eight
watercolours and sixty pen-and-ink drawings, out of
the country in his own car.25
Jointly with Albert Marenčin, whose artistic work
consisted exclusively of figurative collages, Karol
Baron also exhibited at the World Surrealist'Exhibition
in Chicago alongside more than a hundred similarly
oriented artists.26 27 Following an invitation by one of
the organizers, Franklin Rosemont, they sent their
works by normal post, as if they were not works of
art. In the period under question Karol Baron’s illus-
trations appeared in Surrealist journals abroad. Two
issues of the Brussels-based journal Eantasmagü
carried the artist’s drawings on their back page and
a few years earlier their readers had an opportunity
to encounter one of his drawings on its cover.28 The
Paris journals Bulletin de liaison surrealisti and Change'"
also presented examples of Karol Baron’s work. Al-
bert Marenčin, who corresponded with the journals
and also provided an accompanying text, arranged
the contacts. He defined Baron’s personality as one
for which “painting is a magic tooi and “the author him-
self does not wish to reproduce or represent what is already
known but rather to discover what is still unknowii It is
worth noting that, like many other Surrealists, both
Marenčin and Baron were also published writers.
Whereas the sources listed above clearly demon-
strate that Surrealist artists exhibited through their
2. Karol Baron: Illustrationfor the bibliophilepublication Okamih pravdy
(The Moment of Truth) by Albert Marenän, 1971.
own initiative, the situation is much less clear in the
case of Miloš Urbásek who appeared on the unof-
ficial Slovák scene mainly as a participant in events
and projects organized by Alex Mlynárčik. In the
1960s his purely geometrical works, formally derived
from lettrisme [Fig. 3], achieved phénoménal success
primarily in West Germany: a number of his works
was bought by private collectors who included them
in several exhibitions, initiated mainly by Jürgen
Weichardt as well as other collectors. One of the
exhibitions took place in 1973 at the Kunsthalle in
Wilhelmshaven.32 Other Slovák artists presented
25 Exhibition in 1974 at Keele University, England; exhibition
in 1975 at the Art Gallery, Nicholson Institute, England; in
1976 the exhibition entitled Absurdum Suite at the Englands
Gallery, Staffordshire, England. After ŠVÁB (see in note
24), pp. 192, 193, 194, additional information supplied by
the author, October 2001.
26 Marvelous Freedom — Vigilance of Desire. World Surrealist Ex-
hibition. [Exhib. Cat.] Chicago : Black Swan Gallery, 1976,
p. 2, plate on p. 9 (Albert Marenčin), plate on p. 13 (Karol
Baron). Also after ŠVÁB (see in note 24), pp. 192,193,194.
Additional information supplied by Karol Baron, October
2001.
27 Fantasmagie, 1974, No. 38; 1975, No. 45.
28 Fantasmagie, 1971, No. 29.
29 Bulletin de liaison Surrealist, 1971, No. 2, pp. 4-5; 1973, No. 6,
pp. 17, 30; 1976, No. 10, pp. 30-31.
30 Change, 11,1975, No. 25, pp. 24, 26.
31 DEGAUDENZI, J.-L. - VILLENEUVE, R.: Ee Musée des
Vampires. Paris 1976, plate pp. 156,180, 199.
32 Urbâsek’s works were shown alongside works by renowned
European artists such as Otto Piene, Joachim Bandau, Rolf
Szymanski, Dieter Heims, Pablo Picasso, Max Bill, Lynn
Chadwick, Niki de Saint Phalle, Antoni Segui, Igael Tumarkin,
Ossip Zadkin, Victor Vasarely. Central European artists were
215
the artist could not send his work by official channels,
on this occasion, too, he sent his coloured ink draw-
ings by ordinary post. In addition, he had several solo
exhibitions in Great Britain. The organizer, Frédéric
John England, paid a personal visit to Karol Baron
in Zilina and drove the collection, consisting of eight
watercolours and sixty pen-and-ink drawings, out of
the country in his own car.25
Jointly with Albert Marenčin, whose artistic work
consisted exclusively of figurative collages, Karol
Baron also exhibited at the World Surrealist'Exhibition
in Chicago alongside more than a hundred similarly
oriented artists.26 27 Following an invitation by one of
the organizers, Franklin Rosemont, they sent their
works by normal post, as if they were not works of
art. In the period under question Karol Baron’s illus-
trations appeared in Surrealist journals abroad. Two
issues of the Brussels-based journal Eantasmagü
carried the artist’s drawings on their back page and
a few years earlier their readers had an opportunity
to encounter one of his drawings on its cover.28 The
Paris journals Bulletin de liaison surrealisti and Change'"
also presented examples of Karol Baron’s work. Al-
bert Marenčin, who corresponded with the journals
and also provided an accompanying text, arranged
the contacts. He defined Baron’s personality as one
for which “painting is a magic tooi and “the author him-
self does not wish to reproduce or represent what is already
known but rather to discover what is still unknowii It is
worth noting that, like many other Surrealists, both
Marenčin and Baron were also published writers.
Whereas the sources listed above clearly demon-
strate that Surrealist artists exhibited through their
2. Karol Baron: Illustrationfor the bibliophilepublication Okamih pravdy
(The Moment of Truth) by Albert Marenän, 1971.
own initiative, the situation is much less clear in the
case of Miloš Urbásek who appeared on the unof-
ficial Slovák scene mainly as a participant in events
and projects organized by Alex Mlynárčik. In the
1960s his purely geometrical works, formally derived
from lettrisme [Fig. 3], achieved phénoménal success
primarily in West Germany: a number of his works
was bought by private collectors who included them
in several exhibitions, initiated mainly by Jürgen
Weichardt as well as other collectors. One of the
exhibitions took place in 1973 at the Kunsthalle in
Wilhelmshaven.32 Other Slovák artists presented
25 Exhibition in 1974 at Keele University, England; exhibition
in 1975 at the Art Gallery, Nicholson Institute, England; in
1976 the exhibition entitled Absurdum Suite at the Englands
Gallery, Staffordshire, England. After ŠVÁB (see in note
24), pp. 192, 193, 194, additional information supplied by
the author, October 2001.
26 Marvelous Freedom — Vigilance of Desire. World Surrealist Ex-
hibition. [Exhib. Cat.] Chicago : Black Swan Gallery, 1976,
p. 2, plate on p. 9 (Albert Marenčin), plate on p. 13 (Karol
Baron). Also after ŠVÁB (see in note 24), pp. 192,193,194.
Additional information supplied by Karol Baron, October
2001.
27 Fantasmagie, 1974, No. 38; 1975, No. 45.
28 Fantasmagie, 1971, No. 29.
29 Bulletin de liaison Surrealist, 1971, No. 2, pp. 4-5; 1973, No. 6,
pp. 17, 30; 1976, No. 10, pp. 30-31.
30 Change, 11,1975, No. 25, pp. 24, 26.
31 DEGAUDENZI, J.-L. - VILLENEUVE, R.: Ee Musée des
Vampires. Paris 1976, plate pp. 156,180, 199.
32 Urbâsek’s works were shown alongside works by renowned
European artists such as Otto Piene, Joachim Bandau, Rolf
Szymanski, Dieter Heims, Pablo Picasso, Max Bill, Lynn
Chadwick, Niki de Saint Phalle, Antoni Segui, Igael Tumarkin,
Ossip Zadkin, Victor Vasarely. Central European artists were
215