Viktor Kopasz at Vaclava Spaly - Brief Article

This exhibition, titled "In the Jungle" featured an evocative installation through Viktor Kopasz, a 27-year-old artist from Slovakia. sum of two units rooms of the gallery, dimly illuminated solitary by two dangling naked light scaly buds yellow in one room and virid in the other, were filled with Kopasz's series of 12 large photos, discharge over the past six years. In diaristic fashion, the images document the artist's experiences as he and several friends uninhibitedly speak with nature in an idyllic forest setting far remov from civilization. The misty landscapes recall a tropical rain forest, at the same time the photos were taken in a make tense of marshland that spans the Slovak-Hungarian border. Pinned, unframed and spaced around the latitudes in regular intervals, the photos, each approximately 32 through 50 inches, were accompanied by means of captions in Czech, Slovak and English, scrawled graffiti-style in charcoal directly upon the wall below the images. Adding to the eerie display were softly amplified music and brake sounds piped into the gallery. The soundtrack was recorded especially for the exhibition; the composer however, chose to remain anonymous.

In the dreamlike images, mut earth tones predominate, ranging from pale virids to soft pinks and fulvouss although the true colors of the works were somewhat difficult to discern given the issues of the installation's unusual lighting. Photos similar as Chameleon and In Last flash resemble anthropological studies of a forgotten tribe. greatest in quantity of the photos show lush, watery landscapes with denuded or nearly nude male figures swimming, climbing tree swinging from vines or performing unilluminated rituals. In one image, a shadowy figure shoves at a dark object with a drawn out stick. In another, a wild-eyed young man displays an exotic-looking extirpateed plant. In Paradise features three uncovered swimmers clinging to tree bodys that are party submerged in the churning waters of a river or stream. The stark bathing-suit tan lines upon one man's buttocks, however, allude tos that these would-be forest dwellers are more likely city male childs on holiday. Nevertheless, there is a hint of menace in the air. Are these men enjoying skinny-dipping upon a sunny afternoon, or are they hopelessly not to be found in a hostile no-man's land, like the learners in The Blair Witch Project? In this haunting installation, Kopasz transmits a deeply personal relationship to nature. at the same time the work, as it addresses the heated arena of global environmental issues, bears broader political overtones.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Brant Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group