Jaro Varga
Jaro Varga
Born in Slovakia
Lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic
Education
2023: The Eugenisz Geppert Academy of Fine Art and Design in Wroclaw, habilitated Doctor of Arts in the discipline Fine Art and Conversation
2010-2014: Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Department of Intermedia / VŠVU v Bratislave, degree: Doctor of Art (Art.D.), gained in June 2014, Dissertation: “Expanded Role of Artist”
2005-2010: Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava / VŠVU v Bratislave, Department of Intermedia, degree: Master (Mgr.art), gained in June 2010
2000-2005: University of Presov, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Department of Arts: degree: Master (Mgr.), gained in May 2005
Scholarships
2011: Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, Doctoral research scholarship (awarded by Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic)
2009: Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, Department of Fine Arts, USA
2007: Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, PL Erazmus Program
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
Our Silence Will Not Protect Us, Synagoue - Center for Contemporary Art, GJK Trnava, Slovakia
Spriadač, Priadkar, Priadenec, Oravska Gallery, Dolný Kubín, Slovakia
2023
Travel Tales in the Land, Haifa Museum of Art, Israel
In Someone Else's Game, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
In Someone Else's Diary, Liste Art Basel, with Ivan Gallery, Switzerland
Priadkač, Pradiar, Spriadač…, Socha v meste IX., Turiec Gallery, Martin, Slovakia
2022
Angkor and Rome, Sa Sa Art, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2021
The Yellow Book, Chiquita Room, Tàpies Foundation, Arús Library, Museum Picasso, Barcelona, Spain
Fremde Haut, Goethe Institute Bratislava, Slovakia
Interstices, solo/duo show with Catherine Radosa, GAMPA Pardubice, Czech Republic
2020
ARCO Madrid, solo/duo show with Ivan Gallery Bucharest, Madrid, Spain
2019
We don’t know that we know, Huntkastner Prague in cooperation with Ivan Gallery, Czech Republic
Circular Rectangle, Kunst im Kreuzgang, St Jodokus, Bielefeld, Germany
2018
About Books, Gallery AlbumArte, Rome, Italy
I found it somewhere but I cannot find it, At Home Gallery, site specific installation in old synagogue, Samorin, Slovakia
Situation 50, Gallery Klatovy Klenova, Czech Republic
There are more things, Gallery Kabinet T, Zlín, Czech Republic
2017
MISSING SOMETHING AND ITSELF MISSING, Ivan Gallery Bucharest, Romania
In Someone’s Else Dream, SODA Gallery Bratislava, Slovakia
Situation After the Arrival of the Warning Patrol, East Slovak Gallery Kosice
The Hacked Dream, SPZ Gallery Prague, Czech Republic
2016
Texture of Time, Flatgallery Bratislava, Slovakia
2015
LIBRARY 26.10.2015-3.1.2016, Gdanska Galeria Miejska, Gdansk, Poland
Mirror and Mask, Soga, Bratislava, Slovakia
Lost Library, Muzeum Contemporary, Slovak National Museum, Betliar, Slovakia
2014
"Was ist Kunst?", Gallery HIT, Bratislava, Slovakia
Situace 50, Pavilon Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2012
At the End of Universe, with Jan Brož, Berlínskej model, Prague, Czech Republic
Master and Disciple 4, Ilona Németh & Jaro Varga, Magma Contemporary Art Space, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania
Lost Library, Gallery Heppen Transfer, Warsaw, Poland
2010
Touristic Routes, D Raum Museums Quartier, Vienna, Austria
Urban Exploration, Open Gallery Bratislava, Slovakia
2006
Dangerous sequences, Gallery HIT, Bratislava, Slovakia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Pred časmi, Pistoriho palace, Novum Foundation, Bratislava, Slovakia
1+1 =Together, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Our Silence Will Not Protect Us, Visual Stage, Pohoda Festival, Trencin, Slovakia
Symptomatic / Asymptomatic, MAGMA Contemporary Art Space Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania
What We Give Meaning To Is What We Embody, Festival Transforma, Tábor, Czech Republic
Caution Hot, Pride Gallery Langhans, Prague Pride 2024, Czech Republic
Our Silence Will Not Protect Us, City Libraries in Bratislava, Biela noc festival, Bratislava , Slovakia
2023
Ruce za zády a ticho, Galerie Atrium Žižkov, Prague, Czech Republic
Elmgreen & Dragset: READ, Kunsthalle Praha, Prague, Czech Republic
VŠECHNY KVĚTY SVĚTA, Galerie Klatovy Klenová, Czech Republic
Virus Diary Biennial | Cryptic Lineages, SAC Malmaison Bucharest, Romania
Ost Anders Festival 2023, Ost Anders Festival, Nuremberg Germany
Galaxia P50, dkp - Dočasný kultúrny priestor, Bratislava, Slovakia
Sometimes in Winter, Galerie Kurzor, Centrum pro současné umění, Prague, Czech Republic
The Wrong Biennale, Virus Diary, Alicante, Spain
2022
Glitch: The City as Palimpsest, Cooke Latham Gallery, London, UK
Prečo ume(nie)?, Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, Slovakia
Triennal Of Contemporary Art, Museum of Arts, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Cologne Biennial 2022, Virus Diary, Cologne, Germany
Nuit blanche Heraklion, Kotsanas Museum, Heraklion Greece
Occupy Art Festival | Occupy #3 NETWORKS New York City, USA
Virus Diary, B5 StudioTârgu Mureș, Romania
Čierne Diery - Priemysel a Andrássyovci, Slovak National Museum, Betliar, Slovakia
The Artist’s Book Triennial, Book Art Museum, Łódź, Poland
The Artist’s Book Triennial, Východočeská galerie, Pardubice, Czech Republic
Folklore is not dead, The Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic
Virus Diary, Romanian Cultural Institute, Vienna, Austria
2021
Triennial for contemporary art, Paradise Kortrijk 2021, Belgium
Secret Language, Ivan Gallery Bucharest, Romania
Socha v meste, Turčianska galéria v Martine, Slovakia
Arts Libris Artist Book Fair with Chiquita Room Barcelona, Spain
Archiving Care Symposium Kunsthalle Bratislava, What Stays – Archiving Care is a project by Akademie der Künste, Goethe Institut Slovakia, and Transmediale - Festival for art and digital culture Berlin
7th Edition of the Black-and-White Biennial | Bienala Alb Negru: Jurnal de virus, Romania
Virus Diary | Jurnal de Virus | Diario del Virus ABM Confecciones, Madrid, Spain
The Artist’s Book Triennial, Turiec Gallery Martin, Slovakia
Reframing possibilities, Soda Gallery, Paris, France
2020
Illusion and the Virtual Reality in Art, Gallery Medium in Bratislava, Slovakia
ARTISSIMA - UNPLUGGED Torino with Soda Gallery, Italy
Separation of Trust, Soda Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
2019
The Portnet of Light (with Lucia Tkacova), Gallery of Jozef Kollár, Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia
History is His Story, NEST ruimte voor kunst, The Hague Netherlands
SIGNAL - The Story of Slovak (Post)conceptual Art, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Hungary
IDEAL CITY, Eindhoven Footnotes of Onomatopee Projects, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Traveling to the End, National Museum of Modern and Contemorary Art, ChangDong, Seoul South Korea
Miart Milan, Selection of Soda Gallery, Italy
Operative and External Memory, Gallery Medium in Bratislava, Slovakia
Operative and External Memory, Bellart Gallery, Vienna, Austria
Double Library, site specific installation in collaboration with Moravska Galerie in Brno and Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Trh nikdy nespí, site specific installation, SOGA Bratislava, Slovakia
2018
Unknowing Knowns | Knowing Unknowns, The National Museum of Art, Bucharest, Romania
Probe 1 / The Story of Slovak (Post)conceptual Art, Prague City Gallery, Czech Republic
KATALOG ENTROPII SZTUKI, Gallery Entropia and Library of University of Warsaw, Poland
I created the line, SODA Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
We the People, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Clouds Bratislava, public art project, White Night, in collaboration with Ilona Németh and Marian Ravasz, Slovakia
The Last Amazonian Congress, Polana, Slovakia
LISTE Art Fair Basel, selection of Ivan Gallery, Switzerland
SO(n)DA, conceptual tendencies, P74 gallery Ljublana, Slovenia
Algoritmy obrazov, obrazy algoritmov, Gallery Medium Bratislava, Slovakia
Triennal of Small Object and Drawing, Gallery of Jozef Kollár, Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia
2017
Escape Route, The Rooster Gallery Vilnius, Lithuania
PANELAND, Moravská Galerie Brno, Czech Republic
Clouds, public art in Kosice, White Night in collaboration with Ilona Németh, Slovakia
AMIWHATIAMTHINKINGABOUT?, Karlin Barracks, 4+4 International Festival of Contemporary Art in Prague, Czech Republic
Art Paris, SODA Gallery selection, France
Jaro Varga, Gallery Bistro 8, Prague, Czech Republic
Laziness, Kulturfabrik Tabačka, Košice, Slovakia
Volta Art Fair, SODA Gallery selection, Basel, Switzerland
2016
When Artists Speak Truth, The 8th Floor Gallery, New York City, USA
What are we building down there? Bucharest Biennale 7, Bucharest Romania
Slovak State, Slovak National Gallery / Kunsthalle Bratislava, Slovakia
2015
Imagined Communities, Personal Imaginations, Budapest Gallery and the Kiscell Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Life: A User's Manual, Gallery Prozori, Zagreb, Croatia
In the shade they flourish, public art project, Imago Mundi Foundation Krakow, BWA Tarnów, Tarnów, Poland
Triennal of Small Object and Drawing, Gallery of Jozef Kollár, Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia
Soft Codes, Museum of Contemporary Art in Wroclaw, Poland
Tektonika paměti, Dom umění in Brno, Czech Republic
Private Nationalism, Open Gallery in Bratislava, Slovakia
2014
Tektonika paměti, Gallery of Emil Flla, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
The First Man Was an Artist, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Plato's third eye, Meetfactory, Prague, Czech Republic
Private Nationalism, Ostrale, Dresden, Germany
Private Nationalism, Zsolnay Cultural Quater, Pécs Gallery m21, Pécs, Hungary
Ptolemaiovy děti, NTK Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Private Nationalism, Kunsthalle Kosice, Slovakia
Circular Ruins, French Institute in Prague, MeetFactory Prague, Czech Republic
Private Nationalism, Divus, Prague, Czech Republic
2013
Dysraphic City, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
City Diary, Triangle Arts Association, New York City, USA
Metaphysik der Disziplin, Czech Center, Berlin, Germany
Vulnerable Failures, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, Seoul, South Korea
„Katalog Entropii Sztuki“, Gallery Entropia, Wroclaw, Poland
Prague Biennale 6, Prague, Czech Republic
Subterranean Echoes, Center for Art and Urbanism, Berlin, Germany
Blind spot, NTK Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Panel Story, Bratislava City Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
M(i)esto medzi pamäťou a nepamäťou, Turčianska Gallery, Martin, Slovakia
Panel Story, Turčianska Gallery, Martin, Slovakia
2012
The Discovery of Slowness II, Tranzit SK, Bratislava, Slovakia
On Boredom, Kulturfabrik TABAČKA, Košice, Slovakia
WHAT’S HAPPENING THESE DAYS?, Etc.Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Delete. Art and Wiping out, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
Zlínsky salón mladých 2012, Dům umění ve Zlíne, Czech Republic
„My sme podstavec“, Vymenník, Košice, Slovakia
Intervencion 2012, Public art project Trebišov, Slovakia
2011
Eleventh Hour, Gallery FUTURA Prague, Czech Republic
Public Folklore, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria
Why do I keep reading the same books?, AMT project, Bratislava, Slovakia
MAPY/MAPS, Bratislava City Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
LIBRARIANISM, Gallery NTK, Prague, Czech Republic
PRIMS, The Orchard Centre, Sheffield, United Kingdom
TWIST- Tuica/Tusovka, 91mQ Art project space, Berlin, Germany
2010
“Where do we go from here?”, SECESSION Vienna, Austria
“Der Drang nach Osten”, Gallery HIT Bratislava, Slovakia
Transart Communication- Public Dialog, Komarno, Komarom, Slovakia, Hungary
Startpoint, Gask Gallery, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
Priestor / Prostor Z(I)LIN(A), Povazská Gallery in Zilina, Krajska Gallery in Zlin, Slovakia, Czech Republic
Exhibition of finalists of Oskar Cepan Award, Gallery Medium, Bratislava, Slovakia
Perfection, Gallery Medium, Bratislava, Slovakia
The Romance of my Young Days, the Future of my Nostalgia, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Open Studio, Karlin Studios, Prague, Czech Republic
2009
Rhetoric of Fiction, Site-specific at Cinema HVIEZDA, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Exit Ghost, Gallery Valentina Moncada, Rome, Italy
Fantazies of Beginning Documentation, Central Slovakian Gallery Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
BRATISLAVA, Slovak Cultural Institute, Rome , Italy
Fantazies of Beginning, Billboard Gallery Europe, Bratislava, Slovakia
2008
Library in Library, Bailey Library, Slippery Rock University, USA
Videokunst vs künstlerische Dokumentation, KOLONI, Dresden, Germany
Exhibition of finalists of Oskar Cepan Award, Gallery Medium, Bratislava, Slovakia
ENDING, Hotel Kyjev, Bratislava, Slovakia
2007
International Media Art Biennale WRO 07, Wroclaw, Poland
SURVIVAL, Public Art Festival in Wroclaw, Poland
BEST WEST, Gallery Entropia, Poland
BRIDG:ING, Gallery of Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic, Bratislava, Slovakia
TACTICS OF RESISTANCE X GLOBAL POLICE ACTION, Exhibition Centre Constantin Brancusi, Chisinau, Moldava
2006
Tourist Route, Street art project, Nitra, Slovakia
Special Projects:
2022: curator of Jindrich Chalupecky Award, National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic
2021: We don't know that we know, site-specific drawing at Slovak Pavilion WORLD EXPO 2020, Dubai, UAE
2018: MANIFESTO, site specific art projects in collaboration with Sonia Rykiel Paris for the 5Oth Anniversary of the Fashion House
Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, Seoul, Brussels, Madrid, Astana, Beijing
2015-2017 chief curator of exhibition program, Meetfactory, International center for contemporary art, Prague Czech Republic
2007-2018 curator of exhibition program, HIT Gallery, artist run space, Bratislava, Slovakia
2019-2020 jury member of Oskar Cepan Award (Young Visual Artist Award), Slovakia
Lectures/Talks
2024: Library, artist talk, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2024: artist talk, Ibdaa School, Jerusalem, Israel
2024: Our Silence Will Not Protect Us, discussion with Z. Wienk, J. Barczi, V. Beskid, Synagoue - Center for Contemporary Art, GJK Trnava, Slovakia
2024: About Libraries, artist talk, Kunsthalle Prague, Czech Republic
2023: Travel Tales in the Land, artist talk, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel
2022: Artist talk, Department of Intermedia Art, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia
2022: I found it somewhere but I cannot find it, artist talk, Sa Sa Art, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2021: Between Betweens, talk between Audrey Hörmann, Laura González Palacios, Jaro Varga, Chiquita Room, Barcelona, Spain
2021: "If the library could talk. Challenging the concept of the library" Jaro Varga, Kundzanai Chiurai and Agnieszka Kilian, Chiquita Room, Barcelona, Spain
2019: Memory of Hands, Department of Photography FAMU Prague, Czech Republic
2019: Is the Future Boring? - Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Tel Aviv Israel
2019: Probe 1 / The Story of Slovak (Post)conceptual Art, Prague City Gallery, Czech Republic
2018: Stories, Anglo American University in Prague, Czech Republic
2018: Conference for Artists "Nauč sa v tom plávať", Nová cvernovka Bratislava, Slovakia
2018: Psychogeography of Memory, Visiting Artists series, Prague College, Czech Republic
2016: “Artist as Researcher”, Anglo American University in Prague, Czech Republic
2016: “Artist with an Attitude”, Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, Romania
2015: City Diary - Piotr Bujas, Ewa Łączyńska-Widz, Katarzyna Trzeciak in conversation with Jaro Varga, BWA Tarnów, Poland
2015: artist talk Jaro Varga & Edgar Heap of Birds, The 8th Floor Gallery, New York City, USA
2015: “SK/AT” Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia
2015: “Library – artist book”, Ex Libris Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, Slovakia
2013: Gyeonggi Creation Center, Ansan, South Korea
2012: artist talk – exhibition DELETE, Slovak National Gallery Bratislava, Slovakia
2011: ENTER CARTOGRAPHY, Zentrum fur Kunst und Wissenstransfer, Vienna, Austria
Teaching
2021 - ongoing: Faculty of Architecture and Design, Slovak Technical University, Bratislava, Slovakia
2019: guest teacher at studio IN (Ilona Németh), winter semester, Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia
Publications
2021: Jaro Varga, The Yellow Book, artist book, published by Chiquita Room in Barcelona, Spain
2021: Jaro Varga: City Diary (2. edition), artist book, published in collaboration with Imago Mundi Foundation in Krakow, Poland
2017: Dreams and Dramas, edited by Agnieszka Killian, Co-edited by Joerg Franzbecker, Jaro Varga, Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst in Berlin, Germany
2015: Who is playing?, ed. Jaro Varga, Exhibition Catalogue, published by MeetFactory in Prague, Czech Republic
2015: 15000 Years of Sameness ed. Jaro Varga & Karina Kottova, Exhibition Catalogue, published by MeetFactory in Prague, Czech Republic
2015: Jaro Varga: City Diary, artist book, published in collaboration with Imago Mundi Foundation in Krakow, Poland
2014: Revolution without Movement, Exhibition Reader, ed. Jaro Varga, Berit Fischer, Dorota Kenderova, published by Tranzit SK, Gallery HIT in Bratislava, Slovakia
2014: Is the future boring?, ed. Jaro Varga & Dorota Kenderova, published by Gallery Hit in Bratislava, Slovakia
2014: Jaro Varga: Untitled, artist book 2015, Czech Republic
Awards
2024: Nomination for Elena Lackova Award, Jeden Svet Film Festival, Slovakia
2017: 1st prize NOVUM Foundation, Slovakia
2015: Award for Art in category Young Artist under 35, Awarded by Tatrabanka Foundation in Slovakia
2012: Slovak winner of Henkel Award, Slovakia
2010: Finalist of Oskar Cepan Award (Young Visual Artist Award), Slovakia
2010: Finalist of Start Point, Gask, Czech Republic
2008: Finalist of Oskar Cepan Award (Young Visual Artist Award), Slovakia
Art Residencies
2022: Headlands Art Residency San. Francisco, USA
2022: Sa Sa Art Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2019 Artist in Residence, Delfina Foundation London, United Kingdom
2015: Artist in Residence, Imago Mundi Fundation, Krakow, Poland
2014: Center for Art and Architecture ZK/U, Berlin, Germany
2014: Artist in Residence, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
2013: Center for Art and Architecture ZK/U, Berlin, Germany
2013: National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, National Art Studio, South Korea
2013: Triangle Art Association, New York City, USA
2012: Visegrad Artist Residency at Gallery Heppen Transfer, Warsaw, Poland
2012: Artist in Residence, AIR Krems, Austria
2012: Flow - Festival of conversation for culture and science, Ruse, Bulgaria
2011: XEROX - short art residency at Banska Stanica, Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia
2011: ENTER CARTOGRAPHY, Zentrum fur Kunst und Wissenstransfer, Vienna, Austria
2010: Art Residency, Gallery Futura, Prague, Czech Republic
2010: Artist in Residence, Museums Quartier 21 Vienna, Austria
2010: Flow - Festival of conversation for culture and science, Chisinau, Moldava
2009: Art Residency, Castel Trebesice, Czech Republic
Selected Curatorial Projects
2019: Vera Icona: Dor Guez, (co-curated with Sara Reisman), Center for Contemporary Art FUTURA, Prague
2017: Dreams & Dramas. Law as Literature, NGBK Berlin (co-curated with Agnieszka Kilian)
2017: The Shell Game, MeetFactory Prague, (co-curated with Lucia Gavulova)
2016: Time after Time, MeetFactory Prague (co-curated with Zuzana Jakalova)
2016: Spirit World Rising: Anežka Hošková, Anders Grønlien, Gallery Kostka Prague
2016: The Portent of Light (co-curated with Lucia Tkacova) Gallery MeetFactory Prague
2016: Fightlessness: Little Warsaw, Gallery MeetFactory Prague
2015: Who is playing? Gallery MeetFactory Prague
2015: 15000 Years of Sameness: Dan Perjovschi & Matěj Smetana (co-curated with Karina Kottova) Gallery MeetFactory, Prague
2014: Revolution without Movement (in collaboration with Berit Fischer and Dorota Kenderova), Galeria HIT & tranzit.sk, Bratislava
2012: On Boredom (with Dorota Kenderova), Tabacka Kulturfabrik, Kosice
2012: The Discovery of Slowness II, (with Dorota Kenderova) tranzit.sk, Bratislava
2011: The Discovery of Slowness I, (with Dorota Kenderova) Tabacka Kulturfabrik, Kosice