Family Vintage

Uneasy Ride with V.F. 

Meeting Viktor Frešo was fast and explosive. Approximately 15 years ago the young artist called me and said: “I want to have an exhibition at your gallery.” His answer to my question of when was brief and hellishly confident: “In three months.” And this is just how it was. We met and I was impressed by this good-looking, pleasantly arrogant hotshot with short hair, his rebellious attitude and his visual work. This was the beginning of our long term and even sick cooperation and shared explosive journey in the world of art. It has become a friendship of two hulks; the blood brotherhood of a mongoloid from Bratislava and a passionate scribbler from the Spiš region. In addition to exhibitions and texts, it featured turbulent times, endless debates about contemporary art, futile quarrels about our weak scene and acidic gallery environment. Always over mineral water and Coke light. Even- tually we agreed that “a table had four legs, but it could still fall apart” – in other words, that artists don’t have to understand their own art and that art historians don’t have a clue about visual art. But this gave us mutual strength and kept us going. As time passed, this turbulent young man became a good father and the creator of the cult of Niemand. However, his new solutions, absurd situations and resolute projects always surprised me. After his father died, Viktor delved deeper and deeper into the history and archives of his own family, and this exhibition showcases his finds and trophies. It is the outcome of his compromised family and personal memory. I will get to the beginning at the end. The title of Vicki’s first project was in the form of a question: Who’s the King? – in which he convinced famous political and cultural celebrities to be photographed with him. I think that today it’s clear who’s the king, carp or stud here, and yet that’s not all... 

Nepokojná jazda s V. F. 

Zoznámenie sa s Viktorom Frešom bolo rýchle a prudko explozívne. Asi pred 15 rokmi mi zavolal začínajúci umelec do galérie a uviedol stručne: „Chcem mať u vás výstavu“. Na otázku kedy, odpoveď bola krátka a pe- kelne sebavedomá: „No, o tri mesiace“. Tak aj bolo. Nasledovalo stretnutie a mňa zaujal tento krásne mladý a krásne drzý, nakrátko ostrihaný macher, jeho rebelský postoj aj jeho vizuálne práce. Tak sa zrodila naša dlhoročná až chorobne vleklá spolupráca a spoluputovanie na výbušnej ceste za dobrodružstvom umenia. Stalo sa z toho priateľstvo dvoch hromotĺkov; pokrvné bratstvo mongoloidného Bratislavčana a zaujatého perohryza zo Spiša. Nasledovali nielen výstavy a texty, ale aj turbulentné časy, nekonečné debaty o súčasnom umení, daromné hádky o našej málo mocnej scéne a kyslom galerijnom prostredí. Vždy pri minerálke a cole light. Nakoniec sme sa dohodli, že „stôl má štyri nohy, a predsa sa potkne“, teda umelci nemusia rozumieť vlastnému umeniu a že kunsthistorici „machu picchu“ vedia o vizuálnom umení. To nás asi vzájomne posil- ňovalo a udržiavalo v chode. Postupom času sa z mladého búrliváka stal milý taťuldo a tvorca kultového Nie- manda. Vždy ma však prekvapovali jeho nové riešenia, absurdné situácie či razantné objekty. Po smrti otca Fedora sa Viktor čoraz hlbšie ponáral do histórie a archívu vlastnej rodiny a táto výstava prináša jeho úlovky a trofeje. Je výsledkom jeho skomprimovanej rodinnej a osobnej pamäti. Na záver sa vrátim na začiatok. Prvý Vikiho projekt niesol v názve otázku: Who Is the King? – v ňom sa nechal fotografovať od známych politických a kultúrnych celebrít. Myslím, že dnes je úplne jasné, kto je tu kráľ, king, kapor či borec a to ešte nie je všetkému koniec... 

art historian b.skid