Database
Emöke Vargová
Born July 29 1965, Dunajská StredaGraduate of the Academy of Arts and Design in Bratislava, where she studied under Rudolf Fila. After studying painting, her interest turned increasingly to objects and installations utilising experimental approaches and non-traditional materials. The work of Emőke Vargová defies standard art categories and moves between various media. She is a solitary artist who shifts and elevates objects and experiences from everyday life into an imaginary/artistic world. She can be ranked among artists who, in the words of Rudolf Fila, manifest femininity through their creativity without militant feminism.
1980
Emőke Vargová arrives on the art scene in the early 1990s after graduating from the Secondary Academy of Arts in Bratislava under Rudolf Fila (1980–84) and later with the same professor in the Painting Department at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (1984–1991). Although she graduated from the field of painting, she set off in an experimental direction and worked with non-traditional media, which can also be attributed to the influence of her teacher, for whom exploration and a non-traditional approach to painting came natural. In the early 1990s Vargová worked with common household objects – scourers, window screens – and developed the aesthetic qualities of these “overlooked” items (Reparáty [Resit], 1991
1993
In the 1990s, she continued to develop her experimental work, with transparency becoming her central motif. She created fragile, subtle and meditative objects: Kostky [Cubes] (1995), Polštáře [Pillows] (1996), a series of books (1996), and in addition to netting, she uses transparent textiles, textile film and tracing paper.
At the end of the 1990s and in parallel with her experimental work, she begins painting again, introducing autobiographical elements into her pieces. Besides acrylic paintings on drawing films (More amore, 2002), she transposes painting into soft stitched images. As such, she moves at the interface of images, objects, reliefs or mental maps (Měkké obrazy [Soft Pictures], 1998–99
2000
20th Century - History of Slovak Visual Arts (group exhibition, Bratislava)
2001
You're sitting on my brain (sculpture)
2004
In 2004, she returns to painting and creates many works in acrylic (Profilové situace [Profiled Situation], 2004
2005
Contemporary Slovak Art 1960 - 2000 (group exhibition, Budapest)
Draughty in Contemporary Slovak Painting 2000–2005 (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
Draughty in Contemporary Slovak Painting 2000–2005 (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
2006
2008
Príbehy a fenomény (group exhibition, Bratislava)
1960 → Present / Slovak Art + Czech Guests (group exhibition, Prague)
1960 → Present / Slovak Art + Czech Guests (group exhibition, Prague)
2014
Dve krajiny – obraz Slovenska: 19. storočie x súčasnosť (group exhibition, Bratislava)
2017
Pertu No.12: Emese Bencúr, Emőke Vargová (solo exhibition, Nové Zámky)
2018
Premium Line (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
2019
Emőke Vargová: E:V: (solo exhibition, Prague)