Dušan Sekela – Abracadabra
Dušan Sekela is one of the most distinctive visual artists of Slovak painting and a prominent representative of geometric abstraction. The selection of his abundant work from the last ten years entitled Abracadabra (Čiary, Máry, Fuk in original) will be exhibited at the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum.
Sekela’s artistic expression is based on original color, shape, and spatial configurations, and the material composition of his relief paintings is almost a “sculpture painting.” Paint, which always plays an important role in his work, is applied to an atypical base, a specific synthetic material, which allows him to create a three-dimensional image – a relief, by spreading, wiping, layering, pouring, sprinkling, and dripping. Vibrating geometric shapes overlap, confront and harmonize with the colored surface, thus creating a compact morphology based on the harmony of isosceles triangles, ellipses, spirals, roses, squares, and quadrilaterals.
The infinity and limitlessness of space is impressive. A dynamic gesture, a phenomenon of light, contrasting colors, and above all, pronounced movement in the structure of the surface are natural artistic interpretations for Sekela. However, his three-dimensional spatiality, or as Sekela says, his attempt at 3D, is also remarkable. He has always expressed the desire to create harmony in a chaotic world, and to bring elements of spirituality and balance into the inner world of contemporary man.
In keeping with his artistic motto: “Art is not a metaphor for life, but its ideas,” all of his works reflect the idea of not doing harming to oneself, other people or one’s surroundings. As he himself states, he admires “the breathtaking beauty of our Earth’s cartography, the enchanting twinkle of mysterious stars, and the fantastic richness of human relationships, love, and art.”
Text: curator PhDr. Dagmar Kudoláni Srnenská, PhD.
