THIS WEEK’S MUSE
MARIA BARTUSZOVÁ, SCULPTOR
“Angular, sharp, inorganic shapes give the impression of coldness; rounded, organic forms appear warm and, when touching, can create that feeling of a gentle caress – maybe even an erotic embrace.”
Mária Bartuszová was a Slovakian artist who spent a lifetime creating and refining conceptual and abstract white plaster sculptures. She was born in Prague—then capital of Czechoslovakia—in 1936. Shortly after her studies, she moved to Slovakia – eventually settling in Košice, a rapidly developing urban area where she spent most of her working life.
Intense city construction made Košice a perfect base for artists. By law, each new building had to feature public art as a part of its design so new schools, libraries, theaters, and hotels all required artistic input. Bartuszová took advantage of this, creating many public artworks in her lifetime.
For her ‘normal’ work, she developed makeshift techniques to push herself towards a desired “perfection of the form.” Casting plaster in balloons, condoms, car tires, and other shapes that came to hand, she submerged them in water or hung them up – letting their shape and weight determine their ultimate organic and biological “gravistimulation.” Pouring plaster over objects created different kinds of structures; once the supporting skin was removed these “pneumatic castings” formed semi-hollow objects with partly missing surfaces and shadowy voids exposed within.
Bartuszová’s work was made to be touched. She worked with children throughout her career, made haptic sculptures to enable the partially sighted or blind to interact with, and designed playground furniture. Ironically, when we visit these incredible works in galleries today we cannot enjoy that same tactile experience.
Like the best of abstract art, the initial challenge can be how to read an artwork; how to discover a satisfying interpretation. But with Bartuszová, this challenge seems unnecessary. Any explanations—human relationships, fear, love, life, eternity, the universe—are inadequate. As a result, however, the viewer is free to interpret in a way that personally feels right.
Perhaps due to the repressive culture in which she lived and worked, plus her desire to work alone in relative artistic seclusion, her work has an essence all its own. We know how the work was made and by whom, but somehow, we are left with a strange sense that this is art that formed naturally – without the guidance of a human hand. When around her work, that feeling is powerful and humbling.
HAPPENING
Tuesday, July 25, 6–8pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEF GUY SAVOY DINNER
with Chef Joe Cizynski
Celebrating an amazing chef with an amazing dinner!
Member: $65, Non-member: $75