His first nude painting earned Jakubisko a slap from his father

Juraj Jakubisko opened his exhibition in Košice on Saturday. At the opening he received an award from the Mayor of Košice. He recalled his first nude painting, for which he got a slap from his father. Visitors to the exhibition sometimes used magnifying glass to look at the mysterious pictures.

Pompous opening of the exhibition featured an opera diva with piano accompaniment. At the opening, Richard Raši gave Juraj Jakubisko the Plaque of the Mayor of Košice. “As a token of gratitude and respect from us, all Košice residents, for everything you do for our city as well as for the entire Slovakia,” R. Raši expressed his gratitude. The director considered the award a great honour. “I was already on the other side of life, but when I learnt that Košice is the Capital of Culture, I have returned,” joked the artist about his health.

Personality of ECOC – Košice 2013

European Capital of Culture – Košice 2013 presents the director through the Jakubisko’s Days festival also as a personality of fine arts. The exhibition includes serigraphs, paintings and film posters. “It is not a retrospective, but a cross-section through his work over the recent five years, where we see a dive into magical realism, imaginary world, gardens, beautiful women, relationships, love, but also hate, hypocrisy, dreaming, folk tales, and direct influences from certain films,” said Vladimír Beskid, exhibition curator, about the pictures.

He says he cannot draw

Juraj Jakubisko modestly claims about himself that he cannot draw. “I think my best art are pictures on the canvas of the silver screen,” explains the previous self-criticism. He puts his own film world even into fine arts. Painting is a form of relaxation for him. “Sometimes I sit in the studio, listen to old classical music, and paint,” reveals the director. He has personal relations to every picture at the exhibition. Each work recalls certain memories. With a smile he remembers the situation when he painted his first nude. “I showed it to my father and I got a slap.”

Originally, he wanted to have up to 70 pictures at the exhibition, but there are only 25. “I was told there was not enough room, and now the walls are bare,” complained the artist with a smile. The selection process was difficult for him. Visual gems have waited for several years to be unveiled. “Many of them were just ideas and were not finished artistically.” He says he has mastered the fine-art alphabet, and therefore they could have been exhibited. “I think that the brand of oil paints is not significant. Important is your fantasy,” added Jakubisko.

Magnifying glass and women’s bodies

Surreal paintings at the exhibition include a series of serigraphs. Andy Warhol used a similar technique. “Out of the dark I lift the face, eyes, cheeks, hands, I work with the body, it is amazing,” compared his technique to sculpturing. He says it is like when a sculptor creates an artwork from stone. One of the visitors to the exhibition looked at the pictures with a magnifying glass. He explained he was not looking at the naked female bodies, but was further exploring serigraph.

Vivid Silver to reveal how he lost his virginity

Košice-based photographer A. Jiroušek gave the maestro a photographic view of his native village of Kojšov. Jakubisko is planning to publish soon a book on his birthplace. “I have been a Košice resident since 1945, and I write about the changing city in my book Vivid Silver.” The book should be full of humour. “I describe my attempts to lose virginity, but Košice and Prešov girls were very decent,” revealed the humourous artist. Read the forthcoming book to see what finally happened to him in Prague.              

Jakubisko swallowed by the crowd

The public and the media swarmed around Jakubisko. His natives took pictures with him, asked for autographs, everyone wanted a “piece of Jakubisko”. After many years, the co-creator of Czech and Slovak culture met with old schoolmates. The exhibition opening was attended by Milan Sládek (former schoolmate), who performed that night in St. Elisabeth’s Cathedral. “I am thoroughly shocked to see so many Košice residents here,” said the cinema maestro with a smile. The VojtechLöfflerMuseum holds Jakubisko’s exhibition to 12th April.