White Space in White Space Stano Filko, Miloš Laky, Ján Zavarsky´. 1973-1982

The publication is the first comprehensive documentation of the project White Space in White Space, which was initiated by Stano Filko, Miloš Laky, and Ján Zavarsky´ in 1973 and evolved over the course of almost ten years. This book examines all the international exhibitions (Brno, Budapest, Paris, Warsaw, Beograd, Kassel), the collected manifestos, and the artists’ writings as well as the project’s further transformation in the practice of Stano Filko as a solo artist. The “white space in white space” is interpreted from various perspectives in essays, interviews, and commentaries not only to cement its place within Eastern European Conceptual Art but also to stress its legacy for contemporary art and institutional practice today. White Space in White Space, a major portion of which is now part of the Kontakt collection, is the continuation of a series of publications that document research findings in connection with key works of Eastern European Neo-Avantgarde. Texts by N. Banai, L. Beke, J. Budaj, J. Denegri, St. Filko, D. Grún, L. Gru¨nwald, V. Havránek, Ch. Höller, J. Koller, M. Laky, A. Mlynárcik, B. Ondreicka, K. Rhomberg, M. Šimecka, T. Štrauss, G. Sztabinski, J. Valoch

Christian Höller is editor-in-chief and co-editor of the magazine springerin - Hefte für Gegenwartskunst as well as a freelance author and translator. Kathrin Rhomberg (born 1963) is a curator. She is also an advisor and corresponding member of Secession, Vienna. From 2002 to 2007, she was director of the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, and from 1994 to 2001, she was curator and exhibition organizer at Secession, Vienna. In 2002, Rhomberg and Maria Hlavajova founded the tranzit network, which supports exchange and contemporary art practices in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. She lives and works in Vienna. Stano Filko (1937, Velká Hradná - 2015, Bratislava) was a key figure in the Slovak avant-garde, associated primarily with environment, installation, happening, and action. He began his studies at the School of Applied Arts in Bratislava (1956-59) and later studied Monumental Painting at the Academy of Arts, Bratislava (Prof. Milly and Prof. Matejka, 1960-65). He emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1981 to West Germany and the following year further to the United States. In 1990 he returned to Bratislava. Jan Zavarský was born in July 31, 1948 in Banská Bystrica, but he spent his whole life in Bratislava. From 1968 to 1974 he studied scenography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. During his studies, he worked as a scenographer at the Nitra Regional Theatre and the State Puppet Theatre in Bratislava. In 1977 the StB (secret political police in Czechoslovakia at that time) took his passport and he could not travel anywhere until 1984, when it was returned to him. From 1979 to 2018 he worked as a scenographer and artistic director for the Theatre for Children and Youth in Trnava. Daniel Grún (1977, Pieštany) is an art historian, curator, writer and art critic. He studied art history at Trnava University (Slovak Republic). In 2009 he completed his Ph.D. thesis. Currently he works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theory and History of Art, Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, and as a researcher of the Július Koller Society (since 2009). In 2010 he won the Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory. He lives in Bratislava.