Július Koller
urodzony w 1939 w Piestany, umarł w 2007.
Żył i pracował w Bratysławie.
Wystawy indywidualne (wybór)
2012
Július Koller, gb agency, Paris.
2010
Science-Fiction Retrospective Július Koller, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava.
Július Koller, Martin Janda, Vienna.
2009
Jirí Kovanda & Július Koller, The Steins #7, Ludlow 38, New York.
Július Koller & Stanislas Lem, The Steins #6, Ludlow 38, New York.
Július Koller's Symposium, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava.
2007
Július Koller, Space is the Place, gb agency, Paris.
Art Premiere, gb agency, Art Basel, Basel. (avec Deimantas Narkevicius).
Július Koller: More, Kressling Gallery, Bratislava.
Július Koller, Raum aktueller Kunst, Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna.
2006
Július Koller & Jiri Kovanda, Index, Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm.
Kontakt-Bau-Stelle (U.F.O.), Action-Performance, Mumok, Vienna.
Echo and Culture Situations, Július Koller & Kvetoslava Fulierovà, Institut Français, Bratislava.
2004
Kontakt, Kunstraum München, Münich.
Július Koller, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin.
2003
Teenagers, Gallery Display, Prague. (with Roman Ondák)
Július Koller, Univerzálne Futurologické Operácie, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne.
1999
úlius Koller , Gallery Soga, Bratislava.
Július Koller & Kveta Fulierová, Studio S, Bratislava.
Július Koller & Kveta Fulierová, Vlastivedné múzeum, Trebisov, Uzhorod.
1993
Július Koller, Up & Down, UBS, Novy Smokovec, Bratislava.
1991-92
Sonds, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava.
Július Koller, Gallery of Art, Zilina.
Július Koller, State Gallery Banská Bystrica.
1991
Post-komunikácia, The Art Gallery, Zilina.
1974
Textile Pictures, The State Research Institute of Textiles, Bratislava.
1970
J.K.Ping-Pong Club, Cabinet of the Gallery of the Young, Bratislava.
1969
Antigallery, Mending shop for stockings, Bratislava.
1968
Permanent Demystification I.,II., V-Club, Bratislava.
1967
Gallery of the Young, Bratislava.
The Tatran Regional Gallery, Poprad.
1966
Editorial Office Smena, Bratislava.
1965
Park of Culture and Repose, Bratislava.
Wystawy grupowe (wybór)
2012
We are all U.F.O.-nauts, Edinburgh Arts Festival, Edinburgh.
Moving forward, counting backwards, MUAC, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, México.
Delete. Art and Wiping Out, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava.
Spirits of Internationalism, 6 european collections 1956-1986, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.
Is there anything to do here, is there anything to see?, exhibition by Rob Kennedy with Colin Cook, Julius Koller, Kostas Sfikas, and Walter Sickert, CCA, Glasgow
Musée des enfants de la danse, Musée de la danse, Rennes.
Sincerely how am I talking?, curated by FormContent, Hollybush Gardens, London.
2011
Ostalgia, New Museum, New York.
Art Basel, gb agency, Art 42, Basel.
Museum of Parallel Narratives, In the Framework of L'Internationale, MACBA, Barcelona.
Fluxus East, Henie Onstad Art Centre, Høvikodden.
2010
Sensorialités Excentriques, Musée départemental d’Art Contemporain, Rochechouart.
Július Koller, Jirí Kovanda and Roman Ondák, gb agency, Art Features, Art Basel 41, Basel.
Starter, Arter, Istanbul.
Both Before and After, gb agency, Paris.
The Boy who cried Wolf, gb agency, Paris.
Star City (The Future Under Communism), Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham.
Les Promesses du Passé, Centre Pompidou, MNAM, Paris.
Che cosa sono le nuvole?, Museion, Bolzano.
2009
Nord, Nord-Ouest, gb agency, Paris.
We can breathe in space, they just don't want us to escape, Altefabrik, Rapperswil.
2008
Archeology of Mind, Kuntsi, Modernin taiteen museo, Vaasa.
U-Turn, Quadriennale, Copenhaguen.
Fluxus East, Ludwig Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest.
Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art, Barbican Centre, London.
Yes, No & Other Options, Art Sheffield 08, Sheffield.
Nouvelles du Mont Analogue, Musée d'art contemporain, Rochechouart.
Conspire, Transmediale 08, Festival for Art and Digital Culture, Berlin.
2007
Fluxus East, CAC, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius.
Fiac, Cour Carrée du Louvre, gb agency, Paris.
Fluxus East, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin.
Learn to Read, Level 2 Gallery, Tate Modern, London.
Homage a Kassak, gallery of Art, Nové Zàmky.
Contemporary Slovak Art, Slovak Art in Collection of first Slovak investors group, Bratislava; City Art Museum, Ljubljana.
Recollection from 1987 to 2007, artistamp Museum of Art Pool, Art Pool Research Center, Budapest.
15th Exhibition of UBS Members, House of Art, Bratislava.
2006
Kontakt, Ester Bank Collection, Mumok, Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna.
Night of Sun, Mail art, Kunstkammer im Schloss Barten Stein.
III International Convocation of Mail Art, Museum, Ceuta.
Arte y Naturaleza-Art and Nature, Internatioanl Mail Art Exhibition, Merida.
Erzählungen (Narratives), Kunsthaus, Graz.
Auditorium-Stage-Backstage, Kuntverein Frankfurt/Main (Tranzit-Action).
PeaceTower - Day for Night, Whitney Biennial 2006, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Autopoesis, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava.
Abstraction III, Umelecka Beseda Slovenska (slovak art group), Slovak Broadcasting-Radio, Bratislava.
Le Mouvement des Images, MNAM, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
Shift, Gallery Grita Insam, Vienna.
...Concept has Never Meant Horse, Generali Foundation, Vienna.
In (ter) Media (s) Res, Gallery of Art, Zilina.
Collezionami, Biennale d'Arti Contemporanee Italian and Slovak Art, Citadella della Cultura, Archivio di Stato e Biblioteca Nazionale, Bari.
2004
Collected Views from East or West and West or East, Generali Foundation, Vienna.
Eintritt Frei - Kunst aus Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prag and Wien, BAWAG Foundation, Vienna.
Parallel Actions : Conceptual Tendencies in Central Europe from 1965 to 1980, Galerie der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig.
De ma Fenêtre, des artistes et leurs territoires, ENSBA, Paris.
Who if not we...?, BAK, Utrecht; Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
Utopia Station, Haus der Kunst, Münich.
Begegnung auf höchster Ebene, Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna.
2003
Links, gb agency, Paris.
Wir Müssen heute noch..., Kölnischer Kunstverein, Köln.
Utopia Station, 50th Venice Biennale, Venice.
Now What? Dreaming a better world in six parts, BAK, Utrecht.
Parallel Actions: Conceptual Tendencies in Central Europe from 1965 to 1980, Austrian Cultural Forum, New York.
2001
Ausgeträumt..., Wiener Secession, Vienna.
Slowakische Träume, Museum Moderner Kunst - Stiftung Wörlen, Passau.
2000
Fundación Joan Miró, Barcelona.
Global Conceptualism, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge; Ludwig Museum Budapest; John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
1997
Face à l'Histoire (1933-96), MNAM, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
1996
23th Sao Paulo Art Bienalle, Sao Paulo.
1995
Before (Slovak art of 60's), Gallery of Art, Zilina.
60's in Slovak Art, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava.
Dream of Museum, Gallery of Art, Zilina.
1994
After the Spring, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Der Riss im Raum, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin; Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw.
1993
The 1st Floor, Municipal Gallery, Bratislava.
The 2nd Exit, Ludwig Forum, Aachen.
1992
Hills and Mills, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam.
Zwischen Objekt und Installation, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund.
Ebb and Tide, Nová váznost, Slovak Radio, Bratislava.
1991
Dream of a Museum, Gallery of Art, Zilina.
On the Beautiful Blue Danube, (together with P.Rónai), Budapest.
Interspaces, The Bardejov Spa, Bardejov- Oscillations, Kmárno, Budapest.
1990
Art against Totality, Bratislava.
Nová váznost, The Clarists' church, SFVU Gallery, Bratislava.
Slowakische Kunst Heute, Villa Merkel, Esslingen.
Slovak Photography of the Sixties, Bratislava.
1989
Slovak Photography of the Eighties, Bratislava; Brno; Moscow.
Basement, Bratislava.
1988
Hommage á Kassák (100), Budapest.
The New Slovak Picture, Bratislava.
1987
Art of Today II, Club of Young Artists, Budapest Gallery, Budapest.
1986
The Body in Czecho-Slovak Photography 1900 - 1986, Kromeríz.
1982
Bilder aus der Slowakei, Galeria Pragxis, Essen-Kettwig.
1982 -87
Archelogical Monuments and the Present, Bratislava.
1980
Exhibition of Drawings, Pécs.
1979
Works and Words, Stichting de Appel, Amsterdam.
Miejsca i chwile, Galeria Foto-medium-art, Wroclaw.
Dziekanka, Warsaw.
1976
The Seventies, CAYC, Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Sao Paulo.
Multimedia, Museum de Arte Contemporanea, Sao Paulo.
1974
Prospective '74, Museo de Arte Contemporanea, Sao Paulo.
Hygiène de l'Art, Genève.
Wis hebben ook ideen, Aalst.
1971
Contemporary Slovak Graphic Art, Banská Bystrica.
Multisensorische Ereignisse: Tischtennis Aktion 71, Bielefeld.
Junge Tschechoslowakische Künstler, Bielefeld.
1970
The 1st Open Studio, Bratislava.
Polymúzická priestor, Piestany
1969
Contemporary Trends in Slovak Painting, Bratislava.
Jung Künstler aus der CSSR, Berlin.
Donation, Paris.
1968
Danuvius, Bratislava.
1967
Contemporary Slovak Painting Trends, Cracow.
Picture 67, Brno-Pictures 1965-67, Kosice.
1966
Exhibition of the Young, Bratislava
Issue 111 November-December 2007
Július Koller
Although it is now almost two months since I received the sad news that Július Koller had died from a heart attack, I am still struggling to accept it. Koller was one of those people who, like a much-loved parent, you unconsciously expect always to be around, because they foster a feeling you thrive on: they inspire confidence in the possibility of living as you want to live and doing what you want to do simply by virtue of the way they are and how they go about their lives. In this sense the philosophical humour, provocative critical wit and, fundamentally, the unruly optimism that Koller articulated in his Conceptual art practice and embodied as a person were a source of inspiration that I now can’t do without; they constituted an irrefutable argument for making art and pursuing criticism, and for the joy that can be gained from doing so, no matter how marginal such activities may appear to society at large. I believe that Koller will have inspired similar feelings in many others, and I know for certain how much he meant to Roman Ondák, not only as a friend but also as the progenitor of the existentially engaged Conceptual art that Ondák continues to practice.
The historical context in which Koller, who was born in 1939, developed his work in Bratislava during the late 1960s was marked both by the hopes entertained during the ‘Prague Spring’, when strict communist policies were briefly relaxed, and by the violent quelling of this ‘thaw’ period in August 1968 by the armies of the Warsaw Pact. Against the backdrop of this violence, Koller’s art appears as a gesture of defiant opposition: the erratic poetic wit at play in his work implies an uncompromising insistence on the Utopian potential of free thought and intersubjective communication in the face of authoritarian social order. For over 50 years Koller sustained his practice on the margins of society with minimal means and great resilience. He realized his works in the form of simple diagrams drawn on index cards or developed in conceptual paintings, as well as in the form of symbolic gestures that he performed in both public and private spaces, sometimes just for the camera. Koller called these gestures ‘anti-happenings’, a term that describes them well. At times they consisted of a question mark or a wave line being ‘graffitied’ in whipped cream onto walls in public places (Univerzálny Futurologicky Otáznik, Universal Futurological Question Mark, 1972); at others they took the form of a table tennis match staged in a gallery as a model of direct intersubjective exchange (J.K. Ping-Pong Club, 1970), or of the redrawing of lines on a tennis court, designated as a minimal yet fundamental form of agency by the title Time/Space Definition of the Psychophysical Activity of Matter (1968).
While his sense of irony may have come from the heart of Old Europe, Koller had a laid-back cheekiness that felt almost Californian. Wordplay was a central focus of his work, in particular the acronym U.F.O., which he adapted in his diagrammatic drawings to stand variously for Univerzálna Futurologická Organizácia (Universal Futurological Organization, 1972–3), Univerzálny Filozoficky Ornament (Universal Philosophical Ornament, 1978) or Underground Fantastic Organization (1975), and which also appeared in a series of slapsticky self-portraits titled ‘U.F.O.–naut’ (1970–2007). These infinite variations on a common cipher constituted a insistent incantation of the Utopian principle. Friedrich Nietzsche argued that to realize a fundamental critique of ‘bad faith’ means to move beyond cynicism and embrace a radical optimism that exceeds the petty dialectics of expectation and disappointment. In his approach to life and art as the U.F.O.–naut, Koller embodied precisely this: he actualized the potential of his imagination as a form of existential agency. As we get entangled in the strange possibilities of art and ideas, we all become U.F.O.–nauts and are deeply indebted to Koller, our patron saint of U.F.O.–nauts. To practise the defiant exuberance of his optimism then, seems a sincere way to mourn his death and celebrate the philosophy of his art and life.
Jan Verwoert
http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/julius_koller/
