OTO SKALICKÝ
MINERS
30. 6 – 7. 8. 2016
„Miners“ (2013) is a series of large format rusted metal sheets with life-size miner portraits. Although the artist makes them almost monumental in this way, the clarity and legibility of individual figures are gradually disappearing thanks to a special photographic technology. The image of a miner disappears in time, like the very same profession from the map of Slovak society. Miners’ work is extremely difficult and harmful even now. Miners at Skalicky’s photographs come from small villages around Banská Štiavnica where gold mines are still present. It is one of the last active mining areas in Slovakia. The project, to some extent, also points out to a phenomenon of today’s society in which virtual work performed on the computer is more and more prevalent, physical labor is losing it’s value and respect to physical human performance is disappearing.
Oto Skalický (1988) is a representative of the rising generation of Slovak photographers. In 2015 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, studio of Miro Švolík. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. He also exhibited in the Fiducia Gallery in Ostrava and the Photoport Gallery in Bratislava. „Miners“ series was also shown in the Slovak National Gallery at the 65th anniversary of the Academy of Fine Arts. He performed in the Ecetera Band and Galeria Formacia music bands. He currently lives and works in Poland.
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