Armagedon of Art

Armageddon of Art

Exhibition: Armageddon of Art
Exhibiting artist: Paulina Halasova
Venue: Zahorie Gallery of Jan Mudroch in Senica
Curator: Jana Babušiaková
Opening: 8 April 2022 at 5.00 pm
Exhibition running: 8 April (Friday) – 5 June 2022 (Sunday)

 

Projekt z verejných zdrojov podporil Fond na podporu umenia. Fond na podporu umenia je hlavným partnerom projektu. 

About exhibition

The solo exhibition of Paulina Halasova, a young graduate in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts, held in the Zahorie Gallery of Jan Mudroch in Senica, is presenting various positions that have been reflected in her work from the study period to the present day. As an artist, she perceives quite naturally the situations that social networks bring into the image of an individual. She matures with them and intuitively includes them in her work. A special point of view is represented by the position of this young artist who is trying to find her place on the current art scene. Against the background of her immediate autobiographical record, she reports on a highly competitive artistic environment focusing on self-presentation. This is one of the reasons why she has produced the figurative expression in large-format paintings from the very beginning. During her studies, she began to fill her works mainly with female figures, confident heroines from comics and water worlds, but also mortals close to us. Despite their cheerful colours, however, they carry a kind of animalism in their determination to fulfil their desires without any restrictions. That’s why many of them eventually turn into beautiful but dangerous predators in the human form. Leopards and crocodiles in fashionable clothes have become her symbol of predatory self-confidence. She does not hesitate to explore seemingly cruel scenes or physical deformities. In her presentation, however, they are rather a harsh, exaggerated irony, which draws attention to the insidious and superficial images for the emoticon meanings of the generation of “Likes” and “Red Hearts”.

Paulina Halasova questions the division into beautiful and ugly not only in terms of the physical appearance, but also in aesthetic categories. She is interested in how we determine what good or bad painting is and what kitsch is. The artist reverses the principles by placing it in unexpected situations or, on the contrary, accidentally exchanging it with non-kitschy, modern elements. It is not the subject of ironic criticism, but its liking is a fundamental concern of her parodied adoration. Her realistic painting combines perhaps all possible elements perceived as decadent kitsch: deer, beasts and butterflies, exotic and historical interiors. This overcrowding results in “dreamy” and paradoxical relief: it is a kitsch that is not taken seriously.

Realistic painting techniques alternate with drawing and simple illustration, which she enters in the form of text. The form of tag lines or ironic stories is closely related to communication on the Internet, such as smileys, emoticons or stories. She relativizes and ironically comments on the contemporary forms of beauty, power, manipulation, self-presentation and desire for attention. The exhibition will run until 5th June 2022.

Jana Babušiaková

About the Artist:

Paulína Halasová (1992, Martin) graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava in 2017. During her studies, she completed the 2015–2016 academic year as an intern in the studio of Professor Michael Rittstein at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In the 2012–2015 academic years, she studied simultaneously at the Department of Stage and Costume Design at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She is engaged in painting, drawing, graphic design and stage and costume design.

Solo exhibitions

2021 – BACK TO THE WOODS, manor house in Smižany
2021 – LET’S DANCE, Osveta, Spišská Nová Ves
2021 – DELUXE EDITION, Flatgallery, Bratislava
2019 – CHILL OUT /RELAX/, Caraff Prison Gallery, Prešov
2019 – YOU DESERVE ART!, Gallery of Spiš Artists, Spišská Nová Ves       
2018 – BUDÚCNOSŤ JE BLÍZKO (The Future is Coming, Šariš Gallery in Prešov
2018 – ABSENCIA REALITY, M. A. Bazovský Gallery in Trenčín

Group exhibitions

2021 – (NOT) JUST A PRETTY FACE, blu : gallery, Modra
2021 – FLORAL SYNTHOLOGY, EQO (interactive culture space), Spišský Hrhov
2020 – Art Festival TEHLÁREŇ, Liptovský Mikuláš
2014 – TUTTI FRUTTI, Bratislava  

Competitions

2021 – finalist in the competition Triennial of Portrait, P. M. Bohúň Gallery, Liptovský Mikuláš
2020 – finalist in the competition VÚB Foundation, Painting, Bratislava
2019 – finalist in the competition VÚB Foundation, Painting, Bratislava

Collections

Gallery of Spiš Artists, Spišská Nová Ves

More information on paulinahalasova.com

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