From April 25 to June 13, 2025, the ATELIER HLAVINA Gallery is presenting bronze sculptures by the renowned Slovak artist and academic sculptor Ján Ťapák.
Ján Ťapák is one of Slovakia’s most successful and sought-after artists, yet he radiates a humility and quiet introspection that permeates his work. His sculptures do not overwhelm the viewer with grandeur but invite a silent dialogue. Inner emotions are transformed into sculptural forms—frozen movements of the soul, at once fragile and strong. He works with traditional materials—wood, and in recent years predominantly bronze—with deep respect for their natural essence and “memory.”
Ťapák grew up in an artistic family in Bratislava, straddling two worlds—stone-paved Palisády beneath his feet and the peaceful Horský Park above his head. As a boy, lifting a stone in search of a beetle, he discovered a hidden, fascinating world. From this simplicity and attention to detail, something deeper emerged: a need to create, to ask questions and answer them through form. Today, he searches for the soul—and the result of this search is sculpture. Nature, folklore, music, movement, and influential personalities have all shaped him from childhood. A culturally rich environment ignited a spark in him, and family friend and artist Svetozár Stračina helped guide him toward a path in the visual arts. He never turned back.
From 1978 to 1982, he studied woodcarving at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Bratislava under Prof. Ludwik Korkoš and Ján Šicko. Between 1983 and 1989, he continued at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, studying sculpture under Prof. Ladislav Snopek and Ján Kulich. He was awarded the Mikuláš Galanda Foundation scholarship in 1997 and the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 2004.
Sculpture is not just an idea—it is also a daily struggle. Materials are costly, the creative process is demanding, and answers do not always come easily. The Pollock-Krasner grant in 2004 enabled him to work freely and present his art to the world. It also allowed him to begin working with noble bronze. In his bronze works, he primarily uses two techniques: welded bronze plates, which limit detail but allow for symbolism; and traditional modeling and casting, which gives rise to gestural forms, emotional nuance, and expressive delicacy. In both, he finds truth—not about himself, but about the world.
His work draws from various sources: fairy tales and stories, Christian symbolism, Greek mythology, Asian spiritual principles, nature, and the cosmos. The themes of his work are profound yet open—sacrifice, silence, the path, the spiritual dimension of existence. He works with archetypes that have accompanied us for centuries—woman, warrior, angel, wanderer, the primal force of the bull… Though figurative, his sculptures convey a universal message. In each gesture, torso, or tilt of the head, a story resides—often not the one the artist tells, but the one the viewer takes away in silence. The sculpture becomes an artifact for reflection—not an answer, but a question.
Ján Ťapák has exhibited in prestigious venues both in Slovakia and abroad. A significant chapter of his artistic journey is his long-term collaboration with the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum—one of the most romantic modern art museums in Europe—where his works have become a natural part of the expansive exhibition space.
The exhibition at the ATELIER HLAVINA Gallery in Bánovce nad Bebravou is more than a presentation of sculptures—it is an invitation. An invitation to pause, reflect, and perceive. The artist does not impose an interpretation; he simply offers a form. And that form—if we open ourselves to it—speaks in a quiet, yet urgent voice.
