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Monogramista T.D (Dezider Tóth)

Monogramista T.D (Dezider Tóth)

Orodzony/a 13 Marzec 1947, Výčapy-Opatovce

DeziderTóth may be called a conceptual artist whose personal poetics are strongly influenced by the visual poetry and activities of the Fluxus movement. The dominant feature of his work is the relationship between words and images. He always contaminates language with other media. The result is a play with notions, lyrical humour and metaphors. In 1997 DeziderTóth took the pseudonym Monogrammist T.D.

1962

At the beginning of the 1960's Dezider Tóth studied under Š. Schwarts and Rudolf Fila, both professors at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Bratislava. It was Fila who fundamentally influenced him in his first creative period – the influence then lessened due to the onset of his fascination with lettrism and language (works of Eduard Ovčáček or Miloš Urbásek).

1966

Between 1966 and 1972 Dezider Tóth continued his studies with professor Peter Matejka (1913-1972) at the Department of Painting of Bratislava Academy of Fine Arts and Design.
In 1966, with Dušan Grečner, Tóth initiated the POMIMO theatre, where he actively performed in the years that followed. He was interested in contemporary theatre, film and literature.

1967

At the end of the 1960's, articles by the "headmasters" of Křížovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu / Crusaders' School of Pure Humour Without Wit, Karel Nepraš (1932-2002) and Jan Steklík (1938), were published regularly in Host do domu/A Guest in the House literary magazine in Brno. Between 1967 and 1970, as a reaction to their works, and captured by the possibilities of cartoon humour, Toth created hundreds of drawings, both playful and absurd, the text foundation of which was often predominant (e.g. Pery sú najlepšia perina / Lips Are the Best Comforter).

1970

On 19th November, 1970, Tóth participated in the I. otvorený ateliér/1st Open Studio exhibition held by Rudolf Sikora (1946) in his apartment at 32, Tehelná street, Bratislava. Well established artists (Miloš Urbánek, Václav Cigler, Alex Mlynárčik, Petr Bartoš and Julius Koller) and the emerging generation of artists were presented at the exhibition. Tóth exhibited a series of drawings as tribute to prominent artists (Hommage à…)
At the beginning of the 1970's, Tóth turned to nature, which, in view of his other works, he reflected in an initiatory manner through textual conceptual metaphor. In his works like Sneh na strome / Snow on a Tree (1970), Praesidium Naturae (1971) and an alternative to the latter called Ochrana přírody / Environmental Protection (1971), he used words as symbols substituting the thing itself - thus the tree is covered in snow in the form of written words from different languages
The 1st Open Studio (group exhibition, Bratislava)

1971

Contemporary Slovak Graphics I (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )

1974

Tóth worked on the extensive set of drawings and sketches called Banality / Banalities, including the series called Parte / Death Notice, i.e. death notices of particular leaves with the dates they fell from the tree, the series Pozor! Pohov! Rozchod / Attention! At Ease! Dismiss! (Rozkazy prírode / Orders to Nature, 1975), thematizing the absurd human efforts to control natural processes, and Stopa / Trace, a symbolic joining of traces of birds and humans. He used photography to capture the events. In the mid-1970's, in several of his series, Tóth came close to purely conceptual tautology. In his works Subjekt Kozmografia / Subject Cosmography (1974) and Parte / Death Notice (1978) he used the resonance of an isolated word (formally common but fundamental in its contents) - the former being the names of basic human activities (work, idea, play), the latter selecting a significant word from a more extensive text, namely a death notice (e.g. the word memory).

1976

Dezider Tóth continued the tradition of private meetings and presentations of artists (exhibitions of Klára Bočkayová, Juraj Bartusz etc.) called Depozity / Deposits. After a performance of the Pomimo theatre in 1977, the State Secret Police (StB) turned their attention to him and he quit those activities. In the second half of the 1970's, Tóth created the series called Názorné pomôcky / Visual Aids, consisting of six boards illustrating a particular semantic paradox: e.g. Tab. II depicted silhouettes of butterflies, all marked with concrete, absurd metric data (e.g. 2kg), Tab. VI consisted of silhouettes of birds with distance data.
While a number of works by DeziderTóth were so subtle or private that they did not awake sufficient interest, the series called Partitúry / Scores received immediate attention - in 1978, Jiří Valoch displayed it in Galerie mladých / Youth Gallery in Brno. A reflection of music scores was a popular artistic topic at that time - as a result of the efforts of the composers (John Cage etc.) to find a suitable way of recording new music in writing - offering possibilities both in formal and structural topics (the staff as a geometric grid), and conceptualism (a score as a found object etc.). In his series, Tóth combined both attitudes, responding to a number of other cultural and art history stimuli, which was reflected in the names of individual works, Ticho pre Maleviča / Silence for Malevič, Dechovky / Brass Bands, Uspávanka / Lullaby etc. The second part of the series is a set of works representing silence –Predticho / Pre-Silence, Projekovaní ticha / Projecting Silence, Metaticho / Meta-Silence etc., as the fundamental presumption of the theory of new music (see Cage's composition from 1952 called 4'33). In 1983, Tóth created a follow-up to Partitúry in a series of drawn structures that are studies of the possibilities of the medium - anticipating an outer intervention (Partitúra po zásahu / Score After Intervention), etc.
Banalities I.
Banalities I. (painting)
Banalities II.
Banalities II. (painting)
Banalities IV.
Banalities IV. (painting)
Banalities V.
Banalities V. (painting)
Banalities VI.
Banalities VI. (painting)
Bon voyage
Bon voyage (drawing)
I, Computer
I, Computer (drawing)
Panel I
Panel I (graphics)
Panel II
Panel II (graphics)
Panel III
Panel III (graphics)
Panel IV
Panel IV (graphics)
Panel V
Panel V (graphics)
Panel VI
Panel VI (graphics)
Wounded image I
Wounded image I (mixed media)
Wounded image II
Wounded image II (mixed media)

Depozit (solo exhibition, Bratislava)

1978

With Klára Bočkayová, Milan Bočkay, Daniel Fisher, Otis Laubert, Marián Meško and Ivan Minárik, Dezider Tóth participated in the Exhibition of Works of František Miloško at the Institute of Technical Cybernetics in Bratislava (1978). Two joint presentations followed at the castle in Smolenice and a year later in Bratislava (also with Rudolf Sikora and Lúbomír Ďurček).
Omalovánky, grafiky, partitury (solo exhibition, Brno)
Strom (fotografie) (group exhibition, Brno)

1979

At the turn of the 1980's, Tóth initiated Posun – Majstrovstvo Bratislavy v posune artefaktu / The Shift - Bratislava Championship in the Shift of Artefact, a presentation of alternative art during normalization.
125 countries
125 countries (mixed media)

Partitúry (solo exhibition, Blansko)
Slovak Graphic Creation 1970 - 1978 (group exhibition, Olomouc)

1980

At the beginning of the new decade, Tóth’s interest in environmental topics changed, and it appeared only in a few works in its original form, e.g. Balík / Parcel (1980), a cube of snow to be sent by mail, which of course can never succeed, Púť k milosrdným putám/A Pilgrimage to Merciful Shackles (1980), consisting in transferring grass seeds on one's feet to places where they may take root.
Influenced by his wife's pregnancy, Tóth worked on objects called Knihy v prenatálním stave / Prenatal Books
The Most Beautiful Books of 1979 (group exhibition, Prague)

1981

Illumination
Illumination (photography)
Dream!
Dream! (installation)


1983

Partitúry (solo exhibition, Český Těšín)
Objekty, kresby (solo exhibition, Český Těšín)
3. Biennale der Europäischen Grafik Baden-Baden (group exhibition, Baden-Baden)


1985

Dezider Tóth - Jan Steklík (solo exhibition, Brno)


1988

New Slovak Painting (group exhibition, Bratislava)
13. Bienále užité grafiky Brno (group exhibition, Brno)
Pět let Galerie H (group exhibition, )
...Igorovi Kalnému (group exhibition, Bratislava)


1990

Artists Tribute to Jiří Chalupecký (group exhibition, Prague)
Hulík, Jankovič, Kern, Meliš, Sikora, Tóth (group exhibition, Liptovský Mikuláš)
Hulík, Jankovič, Kern, Meliš, Sikora, Tóth (group exhibition, Liptovský Mikuláš)
90 Authors in the Year 1990 (group exhibition, Prague)
Interpretácia (group exhibition, Bratislava)

1991

Dezider Tóth initiated the group of artists called Združenie A-R, the public presentations of which had already taken place by the end of the 1970's (The Institute of Technical Cybernetics SAV in Bratislava etc.). In the same year he became the head of Neateliér / Non-Studio at The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, where he taught the dramaturgy of art material. As part of an installation called Východ – Západ / East - West, he prepared two banners with political slogans from the past that are only legible in their upper half. He called the message the agitation of emptiness on a banner. The series Rezervácie 1991-? / Reservations 1991-?is an impersonation of endless variables - the system of wooden racks, a sort of primordial version of a bookcase, is a completely open concept.
Art of Action (group exhibition, Prague)
Dream about Museum (group exhibition, Žilina)

1992

Minisalon (group exhibition, Prague)
Grey Brick 35/1992 (group exhibition, )

1993

[Dezider Tóth] (solo exhibition, Banská Bystrica )

1994

In 1994, the Slovak National Gallery branch in BánskáBystrica prepared his first official retrospective exhibition: EX.
Czech and Slovak Photography Between the Wars to the Present (group exhibition, Boston (MA))
EX (solo exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
Identifikácia v priestore a čase (group exhibition, Trenčín)
Slovný kúpeľ (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Partitury (group exhibition, )
Solidart 2000: Katalánsko-slovensko-česká výstava kreseb a grafik (group exhibition, )

1996

With Viliam Klimáček (1958),Tóth published Noha k nohe / Foot to Foot (re-edited in 2005). In 2005 Tóth's Nemá kniha / Silent Book was published.

1997

Dezider Tóth took the pseudonym Monogrammist T. D, which can be viewed as another playful way of puzzling audiences.
CVAOT (solo exhibition, Trnava)
Kassákov klobúk (solo exhibition, Nové Zámky)
Sculpture and Object II. (group exhibition, Bratislava)

1998

Anonymus (solo exhibition, Bratislava)

2000

At the beginning of the new millennium, Tóth worked on the series Sťahovania a núdzové úniky / Withdrawals and Emergency Exits, toying with the tension between the intellectual and the sensual / images and words. Each of the canvases is dedicated to one of his friends, theorists and artists, art historians, and each is made in a distinctive artistic tradition (reminiscences of Doesburg, Mondrian etc.). As they are ground plans, individual parts are marked by words. The words have not only a descriptive, but also a symbolic value – naming, as a manner of determining the identity of an object / person. In 2000, Tóth attended a symposium in Turčianské Teplice (with Dalibor Chatrný, Rudolf Fila, Jozef Jankovič, Juraj Mojžíš and Eduard Ovčáček), in the birth place of Mikuláš Galanda. This led Tóth to contemplating the popular structures of the 1960's (Trojský skok / Trojan Leap, 2000).
Sneh na strome a iné udalosti (solo exhibition, Žilina)
K věčnosti přidávám svou horečku (solo exhibition, Olomouc)
Monogramista T.D: K věčnosti přidávám svou horečku (solo exhibition, )
Stěhování a nouzové úniky (solo exhibition, Opava)
PRE (solo exhibition, Opava)
Iba papier (solo exhibition, Dunajská Streda )
Monogramista T.D: K věčnosti přidávám svou horečku (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Na volné téma..., ale k věci (group exhibition, Prague)
Schránky (solo exhibition, )
„Je to hotové, nebo se to teprv dělá?" (solo exhibition, Český Těšín)
Monogramista T.D: Andro Verdan: Pro (solo exhibition, Opava)
100th Exhibition of Caesar Gallery (group exhibition, Olomouc)

2001

Možná sdělení (group exhibition, Brno)
Umenie akcie 1989 – 2000 (group exhibition, Poprad)
Slovenská fotografia 1925-2000 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
A-R csoport (group exhibition, Budapest)
4 živly vo výtvarnom umení (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Slowakische Träume (group exhibition, Passau)
Lighthouse - svetelné inštalácie / objekty / fotografie / projekcie / dokumentácia (group exhibition, Žilina)
Rozliata nádoba (group exhibition, Prague)
Sýpka 2001: Idea výtvarného materiálu (group exhibition, Osová Bítýška)
Jiří Kolář the Collector (group exhibition, Prague)
Object - Object: Metamorphoses in Time (group exhibition, Prague)

2002

Dezider Tóth was appointed Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.
Minisalon (group exhibition, Ubud)
Akvizície (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Typewriting aloud, Typos Allowed (group exhibition, Nové Zámky)
Slovenské vizuálne umenie 1970 – 1985 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Christmas (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Sťahovania a núdzové úniky 2000-2002 (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Koány (group exhibition, Nové Zámky)

2003

Contemporary Slovak Fine Art from Collection 1st Slovak Investment Group (group exhibition, Košice)
Těšba 70/80 (group exhibition, Frýdek-Místek)

2004

Stála expozícia Lajosa Kassáka (group exhibition, Nové Zámky)
Wspólczesna sztuka slowacka 1960-2000 (group exhibition, Kraków)
Monogramista T.D: Stěhování a nouzové úniky (solo exhibition, Brno)
Varianty na mail art (group exhibition, Nové Zámky)

2005

Contemporary Slovak Painting (group exhibition, Prague)
100 rokov reality (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Współczesna sztuka słowacka 1960 - 2000 (group exhibition, Budapest)
IV. New Zlin Salon (group exhibition, Zlín)
Draughty in Contemporary Slovak Painting 2000–2005 (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )

2006

86+827/30=10 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Príbehy starého zákona (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Autopoesis (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Půda 25 (group exhibition, Český Těšín)
Skrýše a iné (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Slovak Typography of the 20th Century II.: Generation of the Seventies and Eighties (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Kalendáře pro Jindru Štreita (group exhibition, )

2007

In the year of his 60th birthday, DeziderTóth still played with the contents of a verbal statement: He wrote on a wooden rod, "When I was born, Lájos Kassák was 60 years old, as I am writing this sentence about my birth, I am 60,”. He wrote it in three languages (Czech, Hungarian and Slovak). In 2010, he took part in another inter-generational dialogue, and with his student Tomáš Džadoň, he prepared an exhibition in the Krokus gallery in Bratislava.
Sme svoji (group exhibition, Bruntál)
Z akvizícií súčasného umenia (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Tisztelet Kassáknak III (group exhibition, Nové Zámky)
Príbeh skupiny A-R (group exhibition, Nitra)
Contemporary Slovak Fine Art 1960-2000. From the First Slovak Investment Group’s Collection (group exhibition, )
Sbírka černokostelecké školy (group exhibition, )
Ani slovo, ani vec: Výber z tvorby monogramistu T.D (solo exhibition, Trnava)

2008

Príbehy a fenomény (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Umenie z blízka / 02 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Druhotvary, interpretace partitúr L. Janáčka (group exhibition, Brno)
Ilúzia priestoru (group exhibition, Nitra)
No cage for me! Czech and Slovak art 1970–1989 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Everything about the Museum (group exhibition, Bratislava)
1960 → Present / Slovak Art + Czech Guests (group exhibition, Prague)



2011

Tóth's artistic autobiography Nie som autor, som metafora / I Am Not An Author, I Am a Metaphor received the Dominik Tatarka Award.





2016

By Virtue of │ Dalibor Chatrný (group exhibition, Prague)



2019

Kuna nese nanuk: The Art of Reading Art (group exhibition, Humpolec)

Muzeum umění Olomouc 2011-2024