The exhibition of almost two hundred works by nine artists at the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum presents the artistic phenomenon of the Galanda Group. It specifically introduces the story of nine Slovak artists who were, in the years 1957 – 1969, members of the Galanda Group (Andrej Barčík /1928 – 2004/, Anton Čutek /1928 – 2002/, Vladimír Kompánek /1927 – 2011/, Rudolf Krivoš /1933/, Milan Laluha /1930 – 2013/, Milan Paštéka /1931 – 1998/, Andrej Rudavský /1933/, Ivan Štubňa /1926 – 1994/, Pavol Tóth /1928 – 1988/). After 1970, however, only eight of them remained. Anton Čutek distanced himself from activities of the Galanda Group. Naturally, even the official dissolution of the group did not change the fact that in broader cultural contexts its protagonists continued to be perceived as members of the Galanda Group.
The continuing artistic and spiritual community of the Galanda Group has primarily presented artistic qualities which introduced them to the art scene in the first half of the 1960s. It shows the path from rebelious gestures to the centre of the cultural process of modern visual art in Slovakia. Understandably, after years of numbness during Husák’s Normalisation and their return from the alternative culture, they became heroic classics of modern art. The exhibition at the Danubiana therefore placed emphasis on the powerful reminder of the early works of individual artists, particularly those from the collections of galleries, and also on works that have not been shown for various reasons for at least fifty years. The exhibition is accompanied by a book GALANDOVCI, which presents remarkable contemporary materials.
Juraj Mojžiš
