We invite you to the exhibition
STANO FILKO: COLOR AND SYSTEM, FRONT AND BACK
Opening: 13 February 2026 at 6:30 PM
Exhibition duration: 14 February – 18 April 2026
Curator: Boris Ondreička
Exhibition architect: Ján Studený
Venue: Miloš Alexander Bazovský Gallery, Trenčín
Admission free
Stanislav / Stano Filko, a native of Veľká Hradná (15 June 1937 – 23 October 2015), ranks among the most significant and internationally reflected visual artists not only of his region, but of Slovak art history as a whole. He continuously returned to his homeland in his thoughts and works. After completing his studies in exhibition design at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Bratislava (1956–1960), he continued at the Department of Monumental Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava under Professor Peter Matejka (1960–1965). Alongside an endless range of media, Filko devoted himself persistently to painting and monumentalism from that time on.
The exhibition STANO FILKO: COLOR AND SYSTEM, FRONT AND BACK is based on his experimentation within this discipline and offers a retrospective interpretation of his lifelong creative endeavors, beginning with his student years. As the artist himself directly intended, the exhibition provides a literal entry into his paintings—not only into their front sides, but also into their reverses, which were often equally important in Filko’s work. Painting is thus presented not as a “flat” medium, but as a true object and installation in its full temporal and spatial dimensionality, further enhanced by the contemporary architectural design by Ján Studený.
The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with the complete repertoire of the artist’s approaches to color, painting, and the image. It enables the perception of works from all sides and, in several cases, even invites visitors inside them. The curatorial project delivers a highly intense experience and encounter with color, painting, and the image-as-object-as-space, spanning a time frame from “classical” modernism through neo-avant-gardes to the present. In doing so, it provides inspiration and didactic insight into the life (growing up, development, progress, becoming) of an artist as such.
The exhibition presents a comprehensive retrospective view of Stano Filko’s work and will also feature pieces that are being shown to the public exclusively for the first time.
Works are kindly loaned by The Estate of Stano Filko.
The exhibition STANO FILKO: COLOR AND SYSTEM, FRONT AND BACK partially overlaps with his large-scale retrospective STANO FILKO: 12 CHAKRAS OF BECOMING at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg (opening on 2 April).
Photo and video recordings will be taken during the event and may be published later.
