Artlist - databáze současného umění: Štefan Tóth

Štefan Tóth both draws on and responds to the work of other artists. While a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, he already realised that appropriation would be his main concern. His interest is in the medium of painting, which he subjects to examination, attempting, through an almost scientific process, to get to the very roots of a work or its creator. He is interested in the quality of a work as an object, the value and psychology of colours and the history of genres, and he repeatedly returns to the question of what an image is still able to convey both in terms of form and content. He cites representatives of the current older generation as well as artists from past centuries. Whether it is Gerhard Richter, Salvator Rosa or Rembrandt, the interrelationships are always acknowledged in full and the series of works that results carries the name of the artist from whose work Tóth has drawn.

Exploring another’s work, thinking about it, and transforming it into another form has become a significant part of Tóth’s output. By creating compact series, imaginary chapters are created devoted to a specific personality or theme. He devotes himself with the same enthusiasm to the paraphrase of subject matter: gardens, bouquets or stripes, i.e. familiar motifs appropriated from other artists and rendered in his own inimitable style.

Although imitation is intrinsic to the history of art, in the case of Tóth it does not refer to a method of copying. He reflects upon the original artefact in the light of the new circumstances to which the work has been exposed since it was created, as well as to his own painting experience. The subsequent transfer of the original scene to a different context results in the creation of an authentic, new work. However, the artist himself regards this approach as temporary; it is important to him only until such time as he beings to work on his own “purely” authorial projects.

Tóth remains true to classical painting techniques such as oil on canvas and acrylic or watercolours on paper. He uses painting techniques even when his template is a photograph, as we see in the series After Jasanský Polák of 2008–2011. The original black-and-white images become large-scale paintings that in turn give the impression that they are original black-and-white photographs. Occasionally Tóth will draw on artists deploying even more modern approaches. And example would be the series from 2009 entitled After Ján Mančuška, in which he treats the work of an important representative of conceptual art as a visual installation with a legible tendency toward the medium of painting.

His interest in and relationship with considerations regarding the works of others and the transformation thereof is to be seen in the choice of subjects he opted to study. After graduating from Secondary School of Applied Arts, he studied at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague. Though he had studied at DAMU and for many years had taken an interest in alternative and puppet theatre, Tóth continued to direct his main creative activities to the visual arts. The last year he spent at DAMU was also his first year at AVU. During this period of concurrent study, he confirmed that his own creative work, above all in the medium of painting, took priority for him.

Having spent two years studying with Professor Stretti, he transferred over to Milan Knížák. The transition to the Intermedia Studio meant coming a step closer to his own creative expression, his independence and his anchorage. He also completed an internship at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the supervision of Christian Boltanský. This world famous French artist, often classified as a conceptual artist, combines different techniques, influences and subject matter. An eclectic approach as a central component of his style is also a feature of Tóth’s oeuvre.

In addition to his own art, Tóth also engages in other, artistically related professions. He is aware of the importance of the observer, i.e. the recipient of the work of art, and so while still a student decided to engage actively with art from the position of exhibition organiser, theorist and critic. For almost five years he worked with the Prague private gallery DeaOrh, where he occupied all the positions referred to. Since 2017 he has been the collection administrator at the Kunsthalle Prague. Štefan Tóth’s work is to be found in the National Gallery in Prague, the Yvon Lambert Collection, and, for instance, in the private collection of the Zemans.

Author of the annotation: Michaela Banzetová

Published: 2020

Vzdělání 2008–2012
Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze, Intermediální škola Milana Knížáka (Ph.D.) 2007
École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paříž (Christian Boltanski) 2001–2007
Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze, restaurátorský ateliér Karla Strettiho a Intermediální škola Milana Knížáka 1998–2002
Divadelní fakulta Akademie múzických umění, scénografie ALD (Petr Matásek, Pavel Kalfus) 1995–1996
Vyšší odborná škola uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze 1991–1995
Střední uměleckoprůmyslová škola v Praze 1989–1991
Střední průmyslová škola elektrotechnická v Praze Ocenění, rezidence a stipendia
2015
Miami meets Milano Prize, Biennale Milano, Milano 2009
finalista Leinemann-Stiftung für Bildung und Kunst, Berlín 2008
finalista NG 333 & CEZ Group Prize, Národní galerie v Praze
Tvůrčí stipendium, Ministerstvo kultury České republiky, Praha 2007
finalista, NG 333 & CEZ Group Prize, Národní galerie v Praze
École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris, Christian Boltanski (stipendium) 2006
Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Prize, Paříž 2005
Barceló Prize, Barceló Foundation, Mallorca

Štefan Tóth

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