Rudolf Sikora: For and Against

The prominent Slovak artist Rudolf Sikora will celebrate a life anniversary in April 2026. The scope of his work has long been “FOR” eighty, but with his energy and radicalism, he stands “AGAINST” it. The title of the retrospective FOR and AGAINST thus initiates a dialectical play: the author both agrees and disagrees with the arrival of the magical threshold of the eighth decade. This is characteristic of him – he conducts dialogue, asks questions, challenges answers, and confronts himself with the power and powerlessness of the world, with politics, ecology, and science.

He entered the scene in the late 1960s. Already the Topografie (1969–1970) cycle and the Z města ven (Out of the City) (1970) action are aligned with the international rise of conceptual art: subjective experience recedes in favor of precise formulation and sharing of an idea. Sikora was strongly influenced by cosmological reflections on time and space, as well as by The Limits to Growth (1972) study, which warned of an ecological crisis. As one of the first Central European artists, he emphasized environmental themes from a planetary perspective of responsibility. His rebellious signature became the Exclamation Mark (1974/1975) – a symbol of warning and of the artist's artistic and life radicalism.

From the mid-1970s, the semantic field of his works – especially in photography and collage – is filled with symbols of birth *, life → and death †. Their existential dynamic relates to the forces of the universe and nature. Themes such as black holes or the anthropic principle undergo subjective metaphorization, connecting the outer cosmos with the inner (e.g., Constellation of the Head, 1984–1985). At the same time, doubt and the search for an inner compass intensify in the emerging postmodern and post-factual era. The series Nie! Nie! Áno? (No! No! Yes?) (1980) is telling: the ability to say “no” prevents the blurring of identity.

The postmodern turn of the 1980s brought an interest in painting into Sikora's work, extending to objects, installations, and digital prints. From the beginning of the 21st century, a reflection on historical neo-avant-gardes, especially Russian Constructivism and the work of Kazimir Malevich in its political and social context, was added. The exhibition also includes diary drawings – a complex repertoire of crosses, crossed-out swastikas, and communist stars, supplemented by personal notes and authorial statements. The intimate level intertwines with political, social, and ecological themes; the fate of the planet remains permanently “on the table”.

Some of these drawings function as a database of ideas for the creation of monumental works, while others the author reproduces and disseminates. Many of his works deliberately resemble political posters and adopt the mimicry of monumental propaganda – it is no coincidence that they were also disseminated during protests (2024/2025) against the current Slovak government. However, the earthly activist Sikora does not defend a specific ideology; he pursues impersonal altruistic ideas and develops the legacy of the neo-avant-garde in its belief in the connection between art and life.

The exhibition, which is part of the Network Valoch 80 project, builds on the long-standing friendly ties between the Slovak art scene and the Brno artist, curator, and collector Jiří Valoch.