Jozef Šramka (*1957)
Bedroom Drawings I, 1989
drawing on photo paper, 70 x 100 cm
acquired as a gift from the author in 1992
The author belongs to the generation of Bratislava neo-expressionists (inspired foremost by the Italian Transavantgarde) that emerged in the mid eighties. This period gave birth to the core part of the author’s work, which is typical for its interdisciplinary nature dominated by sculpture and object. Furthermore, these works are particularly characteristic for the iconography that stems from mythology and biblical themes.
Although Šramka’s work does not fall into the category of intermedia art (formally, the artworks are drawings on photo paper), it is an interesting counterpart to the works that express the intimacy through sophisticated speech of signs articulated by their female authors. Šramka’s work, however, carries a similar lever of introspection, an approach that’s soft and gentle. The series Bedroom Drawings I – III expresses sexuality that belongs to an intimate setting. In addition, the presented work is the only piece from the series that uses purely symbolic language (the subject matter of cherries) that also refers to couple duality.
