Viktor Frešo, “LAST 50” at Comma Gallery, Bratislava

“LAST 50” by Viktor Frešo, curated by Zuzana Danková, at Comma Gallery, Bratislava, 14/06/2024 – 14/11/2024.

The selection of works creates a narrative across Frešo’s oeuvre, reflecting his artistic development and evolution. This retrospective exhibition offers a chance to explore the complexity of Frešo’s artistic world across various media and approaches, including abstraction, portraiture, sculpture, and objects, spanning from the 1980s to the present. Viktor Frešo programmatically constructs a hybrid environment filled with diverse objects while maintaining his distinct coordinates and references. He preserves a characteristic vocabulary of visual elements, drawing on autobiographical themes, self-presentation, and a form of artistic “ego art therapy” dominated by gesture. His work references Dadaist spontaneity, the influence of ready-made art, conceptualism, minimalism, elements of punk provocation, and fragments of pop culture. A distinctive feature of his work is the tension he creates between grandiose, egoistic art and quieter paintings or humble found objects from his family history. The piece Neon Viki (2024) is a neon self-portrait, in which Frešo introduces a new context by incorporating his grandfather’s suitcase filled with tape recorders he collected, alongside vases from his grandmother’s Modran ceramics collection. The exhibition will also include an intriguing piece from the Vases series, titled Vase 05 (2016), where the artist disrupts original cultural references and reinterprets them in his own style, giving them new meaning. The work Chandelier (2013) ideologically reflects the artist’s childhood, influenced by a musical environment that shaped his sensibilities. Frešo’s deep connection with the world of music is evident in works like Sound Core 02 (2017), where he plays with the meaning and functionality of musical objects. His ability to reveal dark, sentimental, and humorous aspects makes his works engaging to the viewer, providing insight into his inner motivations, memories, and desires. For instance, the piece Roly Poli explores the ambivalence of arrival and departure, creating a play on emotions that can be unsettling yet visually captivating. Frešo is known for using striking and catchy slogans, often aiming to provoke an immediate reaction. His creative acts are unmistakable gestures designed to engage and inspire the viewer.