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MINIMAL SHIFT (2009)

Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
Courtesy: Koppel Villa, Trnava
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MINIMAL SHIFT
1 April–10 May 2009
Galéria Jána Koniarka, Trnava

Curators: Vladimír Beskid, Walter Seidl

The exhibition project entitled Minimal Shift brought together a selection from the rich international collections of Erste Group in Vienna—both the collection assembled between 1988 and 1994 and the Kontakt Collection established in 2004—presenting artistic trends from the 1970s to the 1990s in a Euro-American context that included 18 world-renowned key representatives (Carl André, Sol Le Witt, On Kawara, Richard Long and Imi Knoebel, among others). This exhibition concentrated mainly on the geometric and minimalist positions and the conceptual and post-conceptual approaches of this period. These are trends that are based on an ideological simplification, an analytical and rational approach with a preference for elementary spaces, elementary constructions, and fixed and tangible forms. The exhibition therefore showed the definition of a new creative language that represented a radical deviation from the classical aesthetics of a hung portrait or sculpture.
At the Koppel Villa, it was possible to view a series of primary objects in the form of a simple composition of wooden beams (Carl André), a derivation of a cube (Sol LeWitt), chipboard or metal verticals (Heimo Zobernig, Meuser) and an aluminium corner construction (Reiner Ruthenbeck). In addition, there was a presentation of black-and-white geometric compositions (Helmut Federle, Julije Knifer), monochrome canvases (Alan Charlton) and conceptual texts and inscriptions (On Kawara, Heinz Gappmayr). In this arrangement featuring classic names of modern art, there were also concepts produced by two Slovak artists, Stano Filko and Július Koller (the founders of conceptual art in their country), with their installations of a white space in a white space and of white objects. In the synagogue building, there were horizontal sculptures and constellations placed directly on the ground, including a land art spiral constructed from a collection of wooden boughs (Richard Long), a marble stone with milk (Wolfgang Laib), and minimalist surfaces of recumbent forms (David Rabinowitch, Adrian Schiess).

Self Governing Region of Trnava, Ján Koniarek Gallery in Trnava, Kontakt Collection, Vienna

Koppel villa GJK, Zelený krícek 3, Trnava
Synagogue – Modern Art Centre, Halenárska 2, Trnava
Galéria Jána Koniarka, Zelený kríčok 598/3, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia