Territory — Art

For the second time in recent months, the Tatra Gallery in Poprad has inspired me to make the journey from Bánovce nad Bebravou to Poprad.

In its impressive premises—located in a beautifully reconstructed former power station—it has once again prepared an exhibition with a distinctive, almost magical atmosphere.

The exhibition titled Territory – Art runs until Sunday, March 19, 2017, and presents a selection of representative, iconic works by Júlia Piačková and Igor Piačka, with the installation also featuring works by Frederik Piačka.

Igor Piačka is a prominent Slovak visual artist, known primarily for his monumental paintings and meticulously crafted allegorical compositions. His work, however, also extends into graphic art and illustration.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, at the Department of Printmaking and Book Illustration under the guidance of Professor Albín Brunovský, as well as Ivan Rumanský, Juraj Lebiš, and Karol Ondreička. In his early career, printmaking was his primary medium, earning him numerous awards.

From this period, Piačka retains a strong sense of detail and technical precision. Even his large-scale canvases, such as those presented in the Tatra Gallery, withstand close scrutiny—each fragment reveals a high level of concentration and craftsmanship.

At the same time, he maintains a distinctive artistic language, centered primarily on figurative work, especially the human form. His figures—across painting, printmaking, and illustration—are often rendered in expressive, dynamic compositions with a strong emotional, and at times erotic, intensity.

The work of Igor Piačka is built on tension between opposites—between abstraction and figuration, beauty and unease, vibrant color and muted tones. This contrast creates an intense visual experience that can evoke an almost physical sense of tension, reflecting the complexity of human decisions and their consequences.

The large-scale paintings presented in the exhibition have the power to draw the viewer into their narrative. They invite movement within the artist’s imaginative world, where one encounters emotionally charged, often existential situations and is confronted with feelings that demand attention.

A distinctive element of Piačka’s work is his so-called “drawing-paintings”—a combination of pencil drawing and oil painting. Art theorist Ivan Jančár describes them as follows:

“In these works, the artist allows himself to be carried by the spontaneity of abstract painting, while simultaneously respecting the contour line, where he seems to restrain the energy of his gesture. The result is a peculiar effect: figures without physiognomic features, appearing as embodied energy. Alongside them emerge figures with almost alabaster skin—hovering between illusion, dream, and fleeting reality.”