Database
Rudolf Sikora
Born April 17 1946, ŽilinaLived in Bratislava
He is a key figure in Slovak conceptual art. He deals with the most fundamental issues regarding the existence of man and the world in the context of post-modern thinking. In contrast to foreign representatives of artistic trends, who took part in important exhibitions on the international scene before 1968, he developed his work within the second wave of Slovak conceptualism in forced isolation from the surrounding world.
action art, conceptual art, graphics, drawing, painting, object, installation, photography, show in map
1963
Studied at Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava
Studied at Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava
Studied at Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava
1967
After finishing his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (VŠVU) in Bratislava, under the leadership of professors Dezider Milly and Peter Matejka, he started to capture symbolic landscapes, which he complemented with curves and arrows in the form of relief maps of abstract forms (Graphs of Good and Evil, 1969).
During a temporary scholarship at the Akademie der Bildende Künste in Vienna he created a series of temperas and the gouache Recollection of the Alps.
In the same year, he married Eugenia Šipošová, an art historian specializing in applied art (she became a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (VŠMU) in Bratislava in 1973). They have two sons: Martin (1968) and Michal (1978).
Studied at Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
1968
During his travels through European countries he created a series of works Recollection of Côte d´Azur, Monaco, Marseille, Toulon and others, as part of his final examination at the VŠVU.
1969
He worked on the extensive cycle Topography which is, contrary to his previous poetic maps, a specific capture of the surface of the world and its impaired environmental balance.
1970
His first solo exhibition was in the Gallery of the Young in Bratislava (curator I. Gazdík).
On the 19th of November, he held the first public meeting of the young generation of upcoming artists called "The 1st Open Studio" in his house in Tehelná Street 32 in Bratislava. In the courtyard of his house he presented his topographic pool Recollection of Dalmatia, complemented with plans and documentation.
At the end of the year, he performed Out from the City I, II, III, through which he addressed the existing pollution in cities. He used an arrow for the first time (a sign that he later used frequently) to draw attention to the natural aspect of being. (He "drew" large arrows into snow using black ink and marked his route through the city and snow-covered fields at the edge of the woods). In two further performances he replaced the arrows with a mysterious letter abbreviation.
Out of the City I (2nd 5th 7th 9th stop) (photography)
Out of the City I (9th stop) (photography)
Out of the City I (detail) (photography)
Out of the City II (photography)
Out of the City II and III (photography)
Out of the city III (graphics)
Out of the City III (photography)
Out of the city (Zvolen) (graphics)
Rudolf Sikora: Topographies (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
The 1st Open Studio (group exhibition, Bratislava)
The 1st Open Studio (group exhibition, Bratislava)
1971
Regular Tuesday meetings at Sikora's gave rise to several projects (J. Koller, S. Filko, R. Sikora, I. Gazdík – each with their own sign), which continued in the following years (Time I – Time IV with various artists). He touched on the issues of the substance of life, the situation of humanity on and away from the Earth (Honour to the intersection of the meridian of longitude λ=-19°12' 27,3'' and the parallel of latitude φ=49°19' 14,4'').
Contemporary Slovak Graphics I (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
1972
He was concerned with the state of the mankind and the environmental imbalance, which he presented in the cycle Cross-Sections of Civilization (four vertically-oriented formats of landscapes showing the development of housing
1973
He started to cooperate with Budapest artists (László Beke, Dóra Mauer, Imre Bak, György Galántai, Miklós Erdély, György Jovánovics, Sándor Pinczehely, András Bán etc.), with the Foto-Medium-Art gallery, Wroclaw – Jerzy Olke, galerií Remont – Henryk Galewski, and with the Dziekanka gallery in Warsaw. He has kept in touch with Jürgen Weichardt (Oldenburg) and remains in close contact with artists of all generations of the Czech unofficial scene.
1974
He created the Time – Space series which raised three questions: the coming, the situation, and the direction of man.
The Exclamation Mark cycle as a memento of our civilization. Habitat I, II, III series was to be exhibited at the biennale in Warsaw. Even though he was supposed to win the first prize, the work was removed after a protest by the Czechoslovak cultural attaché and the prize was not awarded.
1975
1976
He started to use the symbols of stars (a symbol for birth) and crosses (a symbol for death) in between which there was an arrow (symbolizing movement, energy, and also a short duration or transfer of energy), which he dealt with in his later cycles. In the work Concentration and Decay of Energies from the years 1976-79, a motif of the black hole appeared in the set of of life and death signs which proved the seriousness of the situation (Concentrations of Energies - Black Holes, 1976-1980). In addition to using graphic marks as building elements, he started to use real ashlars, stones, bricks to build pyramids and cairns (symbolizing a model of the development of human civilization). The Pyramids cycle continued with the cycle of Pyramid... Civilization... Diagrams (New Beautiful World) and culminated with a number of large pyramids in which he used the positive-negative principle (My Universe?, Positive? Negative?). The Origin, End cycle captured his own action portrait – NO! NO! YES!
Pyramid - Civilization - Diagrams XII. (mixed media)
Década de 70/ The Seventies (group exhibition, São Paulo)
1977
As a result of his participation in the samizdat Album 76, which was made by Ivo Janoušek in cooperation with 69 Czechoslovak artists for the Venice dissident biennial, and in other activities, Sikora was investigated by the State Police
1980
The Touches cycle represents a record of the process of life until the moment of its completion (Touching the Grave) in which he used palms marked by signs covering the sign of the tragic cross.
Highway (Day and Night) (photography)
No?!, No?!, Yes ?! (Self-portrait) (photography)
No?!, No?!, Yes ?! (Self-portrait) (photography)
from the Series Touches (Destiny Vice Versa?) (photography)
Rudolf Sikora: Graphics (solo exhibition, Brno)
1981
from the cycle Touching the grave I (painting)
(Rudolf Sikora) (solo exhibition, Rtyně v Podkrkonoší)
1985
The Noosphere, Constellations cycles in which the circulation of universal energies was confronted with the energy of human thinking resulted in the Anthropic Principle, in which he turned his attention from the Universe to man and his neglected part (an x-ray picture of his own hand and head in the form of skeleton, which we usually do not see during our lives). Disintegration (of the artist and the Universe) is demonstrated by dissimilar signs, such as the remnants of dying systems and in the form of symbolic burial grounds.
Fotografie. Michal Kern, Rudolf Sikora. (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
1986
Second Portfolio (group exhibition, Budapest)
Rudolf Sikora: Time ... Space, The Anthropic Principle (solo exhibition, Rimavská Sobota)
Rudolf Fila, Jozef Jankovič, Rudolf Sikora (group exhibition, Helsingborg)
Rudolf Sikora: Self-Portraits (from the Anthropic Principle) (solo exhibition, Brno)
Rudolf Sikora: Time ... Space, The Anthropic Principle (solo exhibition, Rimavská Sobota)
Rudolf Fila, Jozef Jankovič, Rudolf Sikora (group exhibition, Helsingborg)
Rudolf Sikora: Self-Portraits (from the Anthropic Principle) (solo exhibition, Brno)
1987
The Broken Cross triptych started a new phase of his work which was influenced by his search for new relationships and reconstructions. He changed his value system based on the scepticism of his knowledge. A meteorite as an agglomerate of matter and an element of disintegration became the base of the cairns through which he honoured the human being: Trimmed Cairn, Crucified Cairn (in memoriam of František Šmejkal), Fallen Cairn.
Rudolf Sikora: Drawings - Prints (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Guests of the Gallery H (group exhibition, )
Rudolf Sikora: Drawings, Prints, Photographs, (solo exhibition, Sovinec)
Guests of the Gallery H (group exhibition, )
Rudolf Sikora: Drawings, Prints, Photographs, (solo exhibition, Sovinec)
1988
18th January – establishment of the Syzýgia group (Gabriel Hošovský, Martin Knut, Miloš Novák, Rudolf Sikora, Jiří David, Stanislav Diviš, Tomáš Císařovský).
Rudolf Sikora: Photographs (solo exhibition, Litvínov)
New Slovak Painting (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Prešparty '88. Meeting of Czechoslovak Artists (group exhibition, Prešov)
...Igorovi Kalnému (group exhibition, Bratislava)
New Slovak Painting (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Prešparty '88. Meeting of Czechoslovak Artists (group exhibition, Prešov)
...Igorovi Kalnému (group exhibition, Bratislava)
1989
He joined the Gerulata Group (ended in 1999).
Following the November events, in which he participated, he created memorials to the past Torsoes of a Cairn (1990), Cairns – Graves (1991), Grave of Suprematists (1991) in which a black cross emerges from a white area suppressed by red and blue signs. In the Coat of Arms (White, Black, Gold..., 1991) cycle he dealt with the disintegration of existing countries and units and, at the same time, recalled the look of a warrior's shield. He returned to the postmodern spirit of recycling in Touching of Grave (1981–1990), which he complemented with his palm prints and the sign of cross. It resulted in a painting of human activity (settled energy) which does not reach beyond the boundaries of the grave (cairn) and remains incarcerated within it forever. He also used the principle in his later cairn self-portraits (An observer and an Earthling (On a Pavement), 1996–1999) and in the paintings of conflict zones in East Europe, where the sensitive boundaries were highlighted by militant signs (L’ Arc de Triomphe (Bosnia, Bosnia!, 1993). Even his most recent malevichien variations (Malevich's Grave, later Grave for Malevich, 1991–1996, 1997–2005) proved that he continued to deal with the graveyard of avant-garde, but he never reconciled with the end of the history of art. He has demonstrated that the story can continue even after its end and he has continued to depict scenes of the afterlife of modernism. By moving from the elementary to the global, he expresses a strong commitment to the current state of humanity within spatial and temporal coordinates.
Contemporary Slovak Graphics X (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
Michal Kern, Rudolf Sikora. Fotofest. 1. medzinárodný festival fotografie k 150 rokom vynálezu fotografie (solo exhibition, Žďár nad Sázavou)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Michal Kern, Rudolf Sikora. Fotofest. 1. medzinárodný festival fotografie k 150 rokom vynálezu fotografie (solo exhibition, Žďár nad Sázavou)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
1990
He started to work at the Bratislava Academy of Fine Arts and Design. Since 2004 he headed the Open Studio there and he qualified as a senior lecturer.
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)
New Leaves of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (group exhibition, Dresden)
90 Authors in the Year 1990 (group exhibition, Prague)
Hulík, Jankovič, Kern, Meliš, Sikora, Tóth (group exhibition, Liptovský Mikuláš)
Hulík, Jankovič, Kern, Meliš, Sikora, Tóth (group exhibition, Liptovský Mikuláš)
New Leaves of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (group exhibition, Dresden)
90 Authors in the Year 1990 (group exhibition, Prague)
1991
Golden blazon V (painting)
Art of Action (group exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Cologne)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Prague)
Art, Europe, Czechoslovakia (group exhibition, Lingen (Ems))
Dal grottesco al magico/ From the Grotesque to the Magical (group exhibition, Rome)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Cologne)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Prague)
Art, Europe, Czechoslovakia (group exhibition, Lingen (Ems))
Dal grottesco al magico/ From the Grotesque to the Magical (group exhibition, Rome)
1992
He actively participated in media and meetings against the division of Czechoslovakia.
He built his new studio in Marianka near Bratislava.
He was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.
Black blazon II (painting)
Rudolf Sikora (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: Between Heaven and Earth (solo exhibition, Pezinok)
Czech and Slovak Contemporary Art 1950 - 1992 (group exhibition, Novara)
Minisalon (group exhibition, Prague)
Insights - Czech and Slovak Contemporary Art (group exhibition, Cologne)
Grey Brick 35/1992 (group exhibition, )
Twenty Czechoslovak Graphic (group exhibition, Ostrava)
Czech and Slovak Drawing 1989 - 1992 (group exhibition, Žilina)
Rudolf Sikora: Between Heaven and Earth (solo exhibition, Pezinok)
Czech and Slovak Contemporary Art 1950 - 1992 (group exhibition, Novara)
Minisalon (group exhibition, Prague)
Insights - Czech and Slovak Contemporary Art (group exhibition, Cologne)
Grey Brick 35/1992 (group exhibition, )
Twenty Czechoslovak Graphic (group exhibition, Ostrava)
Czech and Slovak Drawing 1989 - 1992 (group exhibition, Žilina)
1993
Rudolf Sikora: Disintegration of the Symbols (solo exhibition, Berlin)
Power Station T (group exhibition, Poprad)
Power Station T (group exhibition, Poprad)
1994
Zwischen Zeit Raum I (group exhibition, Düsseldorf)
Europe, Europe. The Century of the Avant-garde in Central and Eastern Europe (group exhibition, Bonn)
Rudolf Sikora: Half-Life (solo exhibition, Žilina)
The Fissure in the Room: Positions in Art since 1945 in Germany, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic (group exhibition, Berlin)
Europe, Europe. The Century of the Avant-garde in Central and Eastern Europe (group exhibition, Bonn)
Rudolf Sikora: Half-Life (solo exhibition, Žilina)
The Fissure in the Room: Positions in Art since 1945 in Germany, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic (group exhibition, Berlin)
1996
He was a co-founder of the "Save the Culture" forum.
He expressed his disagreement with the Ministry of Culture’s cultural policy and participated in protests (10 March 1997 - protest participants - artists - spent a night occupying the Ministry building).
from the Cycle Grave for Malevic I (graphics)
from the Cycle Grave for Malevic III (graphics)
from the Cycle Terrestrial (I) (graphics)
from the Cycle Terrestrial (II) (graphics)
from the Cycle Terrestrial (Get Up and Go!) (graphics)
ReSeT (společně s Rudolfem Sikorou a Peterem Rónaiem) (solo exhibition, )
Rudolf Sikora: Observer - Earthling, Touching Grave (Against Himself), Kissing Great Cosmic Bubble (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: Earthling - Observer (solo exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora: Observer - Earthling, Touching Grave (Against Himself), Kissing Great Cosmic Bubble (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: Earthling - Observer (solo exhibition, Prague)
1997
Rudolf Sikora: Of Creation (solo exhibition, Frýdek-Místek)
1998
Rudolf Sikora: Pozemšťan - Pozorovatel (solo exhibition, Cologne)
Rudolf Sikora: Terrestrial - Sisyphos (solo exhibition, Kolín)
Rudolf Sikora: Terrestrial - Sisyphos (solo exhibition, Kolín)
1999
Aspects / Positions. 50 Years of Art in Central Europe 1949-1999 (group exhibition, Vienna)
2000
Rudolf Sikora: Through the Medium of Photography (solo exhibition, Trnava)
Donations (group exhibition, Bochum)
Light of Birth (group exhibition, Benešov u Prahy)
Donations (group exhibition, Bochum)
Light of Birth (group exhibition, Benešov u Prahy)
2001
From Collection 1st Slovak Investment Group (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: Malevich's Grave (solo exhibition, Ostrava)
Jiří Kolář the Collector (group exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora: Malevich's Grave (solo exhibition, Ostrava)
Jiří Kolář the Collector (group exhibition, Prague)
2002
Minisalon (group exhibition, Ubud)
In honor of creative Team - the First Part of the Collection of Jan and Meda Mládek (group exhibition, Prague)
Czech and Slovak Photography 80s and 90s of the 20th Century (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Rudolf Sikora: Against Myself (solo exhibition, Rimavská Sobota)
In honor of creative Team - the First Part of the Collection of Jan and Meda Mládek (group exhibition, Prague)
Czech and Slovak Photography 80s and 90s of the 20th Century (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Rudolf Sikora: Against Myself (solo exhibition, Rimavská Sobota)
2003
He worked at the Faculty of Arts of the Technical University of Košice as a guarantor of fine arts.
Worked at The Technical University of Košice
Reality Check (group exhibition, Prague)
2004
Look Light (group exhibition, Prague)
Behind the Glass. From the Collection of Jaroslav Krbůšek (group exhibition, )
Behind the Glass. From the Collection of Jaroslav Krbůšek (group exhibition, )
2005
Draughty in Contemporary Slovak Painting 2000–2005 (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
Gallery 2005. The first presentation of galleries the border regions of the Czech Republic and Poland (group exhibition, Havířov)
Gallery 2005. The first presentation of galleries the border regions of the Czech Republic and Poland (group exhibition, Havířov)
2006
22 minutes 50,28 seconds (group exhibition, Prague)
New! Newer! Newest!: Acquisition in the Collections of Nitra Gallery of 2000–2005 (group exhibition, Nitra)
Slovak Typography of the 20th Century II.: Generation of the Seventies and Eighties (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: Against Myself in GLD (solo exhibition, Frýdek-Místek)
Kalendáře pro Jindru Štreita (group exhibition, )
New! Newer! Newest!: Acquisition in the Collections of Nitra Gallery of 2000–2005 (group exhibition, Nitra)
Slovak Typography of the 20th Century II.: Generation of the Seventies and Eighties (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: Against Myself in GLD (solo exhibition, Frýdek-Místek)
Kalendáře pro Jindru Štreita (group exhibition, )
2007
Hommage à Kassák 120/40 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Contemporary Slovak Fine Art 1960-2000. From the First Slovak Investment Group’s Collection (group exhibition, )
Prague Biennale 3 - Global and Outsiders: Connecting Cultures in Central Europe (group exhibition, Prague)
Contemporary Slovak Fine Art 1960-2000. From the First Slovak Investment Group’s Collection (group exhibition, )
Prague Biennale 3 - Global and Outsiders: Connecting Cultures in Central Europe (group exhibition, Prague)
2008
Ladislav Daněk: 2x50 / Project - No Project (group exhibition, Olomouc)
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)
Veronika Rónaiová - Social probe (group exhibition, Brno)
1960 → Present / Slovak Art + Czech Guests (group exhibition, Prague)
Czech and Slovak Fine Art 60s of the 20th century (group exhibition, Trenčín)
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)
Veronika Rónaiová - Social probe (group exhibition, Brno)
1960 → Present / Slovak Art + Czech Guests (group exhibition, Prague)
Czech and Slovak Fine Art 60s of the 20th century (group exhibition, Trenčín)
2009
Out of the City. Land Art (group exhibition, Košice)
Inconspicuous Medium (Form of Contemporary Drawing) (group exhibition, Žilina)
Inconspicuous Medium (Form of Contemporary Drawing) (group exhibition, Žilina)
2010
Syzýgia: The Last Show? (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: One More (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
Rudolf Sikora: One More (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
2011
Ilona Keserü Ilona: Colour - Joy - Picture / Rudolf Sikora: At Last Man Knows... (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Contemporary Slovak Geometry 2 (group exhibition, Plzeň)
ObraSKov - Contemporary Slovak Painting (group exhibition, Brno)
In the full Spectrum. Photographs 1900-1950 from the Collection of the Moravian Gallery in Brno (group exhibition, Brno)
Maps: Art Cartography in the Centre of Europe 1960 - 2011 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Paper round - Slovak Collage XX. and XXI. Century (group exhibition, Prague)
Olomouc Central European Forum IV. Slovakia | Slovak Art from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Contemporary Slovak Geometry 2 (group exhibition, Plzeň)
ObraSKov - Contemporary Slovak Painting (group exhibition, Brno)
In the full Spectrum. Photographs 1900-1950 from the Collection of the Moravian Gallery in Brno (group exhibition, Brno)
Maps: Art Cartography in the Centre of Europe 1960 - 2011 (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Paper round - Slovak Collage XX. and XXI. Century (group exhibition, Prague)
Olomouc Central European Forum IV. Slovakia | Slovak Art from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
2012
Civilized Illusions: The Photographic Collection of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Mutually: Archives of non-institutionalized culture of the 1970s and 1890s in Czechoslovakia (group exhibition, Bratislava)
From Tizian to Warhol / Olomouc Museum of Art 1951-2011 (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Mutually: Archives of non-institutionalized culture of the 1970s and 1890s in Czechoslovakia (group exhibition, Bratislava)
From Tizian to Warhol / Olomouc Museum of Art 1951-2011 (group exhibition, Olomouc)
2013
Rudolf Sikora: About World (1973/1979) (solo exhibition, Prague)
2014
Paradox 90th. Curatorial Concept in Meciarism period (1993 – 1998) (group exhibition, Bratislava)
2015
The soft codes. Conceptual Tendencies in Slovak Art (group exhibition, Wrocław)
Ludwig Goes Pop + The East Side Story (group exhibition, Budapest)
Ludwig Goes Pop + The East Side Story (group exhibition, Budapest)
2017
Visual Poetry - 50 Years of Relationship of Fine Arts and Poetry in Slovakia (group exhibition, Banská Bystrica )
Kozmikomiks (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Kozmikomiks (group exhibition, Bratislava)
2018
Rudolf Sikora│The Earth Must Not Become a Dead Planet (solo exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora│EKO(KO)MIX. 50 Years of The Club of Rome (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
The Anatomy of a Leap into the Void | The Year 1968 and Art in Czechoslovakia (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Probe 1 – The Story of Slovak (Post)Conceptual Art (group exhibition, Prague)
Rudolf Sikora│EKO(KO)MIX. 50 Years of The Club of Rome (solo exhibition, Bratislava)
The Anatomy of a Leap into the Void | The Year 1968 and Art in Czechoslovakia (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Probe 1 – The Story of Slovak (Post)Conceptual Art (group exhibition, Prague)
2019
Rudolf Sikora: THE END OF THE WORLD? An eco-comic (solo exhibition, Ostrava)