"In memory, thought doesn’t turn to reality itself, but how that reality was recorded.“ Ján Mančuška, 2006
Incomplete Movement is the first comprehensive presentation of Ján Mančuška’s oeuvre in Austria. The exhibition is not conceived as a retrospective of the artist, but focuses on works that reflect on the central themes of his art in a characteristic manner. Mančuška first embarked on his artistic career in Prague in the late 1990s and passed away there in 2011 at the age of 39. In the space of just over a decade, he developed an immensely complex and internationally perceived oeuvre, that spans drawings, objects, performances, expansive installations of words and text fragments, and film-based works.
From a deeply existential perspective, the artist explored the connection between language and reality as it relates to the individual and physical space, so as to get to the bottom of mechanisms of perception, thought, and memory and render them physically tangible for the viewer. Deliberate exploration and visualization of language through the process of storytelling as well as the interest in non-linear, fragmentary narrative forms are the leitmotif constants in his work, which is determined by the interpenetration of different media.
Ján Mančuška (born 1972, Bratislava, died 2011, Prague) lived and worked in Prague and Berlin. His works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions, including Centre Vox (Montréal, 2017), Kunsthalle Bratislava, City Gallery Prague (2015), Kunstverein Braunschweig (2010), Kunsthalle Basel (2008). Furthermore, he regularly exhibited at his galleries Andrew Kreps, New York, Meyer Riegger, Karlsruhe and Berlin, and Hunt Kastner, Prague.
His works and performances have been presented in various group exhibitions worldwide, including the National Gallery Prague (2023), Ludwig Museum Budapest (2019), Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (2018), New Museum, New York (2015), Institut dʼArt Contemporain, Villeurbanne (2013), Festival Panorama de Dança, Rio de Janeiro (2010), Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2008), ZKM Karlsruhe (2007), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2004), 2nd Prague Biennale (2005), Berlin Biennale (2006), Atelier Augarten, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna (2005), and Manifesta 4 in Frankfurt (2002).
At the 51st Venice Biennial in 2005, he exhibited with Stano Filko and Boris Ondreička in the joint pavilion of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The artist participated in various international residency programs and was awarded the Jindřich Chalupecký Prize in 2004. Works by Ján Mančuška are represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Bundeskunstsammlung Germany, TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection (Vienna) and Kontakt Collection (Vienna).
Curators:
Fiona Liewehr with Julia Hölz (Ján Mančuška Estate)
(Source)
