Jaroslav Štuller
Výtvarník Jaroslav Štuller (*1954) je mnohostrannou umeleckou osobnosťou. Okrem maľby a grafiky sa venuje aj ateliérovej keramike, tvorbe marionet a plastík z dreva, kolážam i ilustrácii. V 70.—80. rokoch 20. stor. participoval na viacerých súkromných i verejných akciách v rámci neoficiálneho umenia (spolu s J. Budajom a I. Kalným), v 80. rokoch vytváral plastické diela ovplyvnené konceptualizmom, zaoberal sa aj fotografiou. Od konca 80. rokov sa venoval práci v keramikárskom štúdiu A4, kde spolupracoval okrem iných výtvarníkov aj s Vladimírom Havrillom.
Pre autora je charakteristická predovšetkým fascinácia a skúmanie možností materiálov (v maľbe farieb). Analytický prístup, ktorý mu je vlastný, ho privádza k preskúmavaniu širokej škály výtvarných techník, pričom sa nesústreďuje len na jednu z nich, ale kontinuálne vytvára plastické i plošné diela.
Približne od svojich štúdií na Strednej škole umeleckého priemyslu v Bratislave v ateliéri Propagačného výtvarníctva Rudolfa Filu (absolvoval 1975) autora zaujala maľba, konkrétne technika olejomaľby. Prešiel v nej zložitým vývinom od figurálnych diel a krajín ku čistej geometrickej abstrakcii založenej predovšetkým na výraze a emocionálnom pôsobení farby.
RESUME
Jaroslav Stuller is an exceptionally remarkable visual artist, whose work Has been relatively little known to the wider public. His canvasses, graphic Prints, collages, illustrations, ceramic art, woodcarvings and other constructed Objects attest to the diversity of Stuller´s creative interests and artistic persona.
After studying the airbrush technique at the Graphic School Prague And promotional graphic arts and design under professor Rudolf Fila at the School of Applied Arts in Bratislava, Stuller gradually became a member Of the Slovak alternative visual art scene, which was in a peculiar position, Outside of the then dominant framework of modernist expression. As a consequence, he was denied the opportunity to publicly exhibit his work at traditional venues. The only way to communicate with his audience was to exhibit at remote public locationsand, most often, in private houses. In the second half of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s he participated at several private and public happenings, colaborating there with Ján Budaj, Tomás Petrivy, Augustín Gusto Dobrovsky, Igor Kalny, or the poet Vladimír Rachel Archleb, among others. With them, Stuller also produced unterground journals, the samizdat.
First and foremost, Jaroslav Stuller is a painter and an outstanding Colorist talent. Since the second half of the 1970s he has been drawing attention By his pastose oil paintings, persiflage on works by the world modernist masters. In the beginning of the 1980s he therefore got into a peculiar resonance with the contemporaneous wave of neorealism, without actually directly knowing its works. He made use of copying, citation, or ironic visual metaphor. In the same period, the autor produced a series of cast objects - plaster casts of manhole covers. He exhaustively addressed this important theme of the art underground. In the Slovak context (and within the whole former Czechoslovakia) this was a pioneering work. In his more recent production, Stuller first focused on still life; then a collagebased principle of composing paintings has taken over in his work. The subject of his contemporary canvasses is often linked precisely to the process of collage. Another related area of Stuller´s presen work is print-making, where he engages especially with the techniques of linocut and monotyping.
Stuller´s sculptural work is equally distinct. Characteristic for it is use of various materials, predominatly wood and clay. His wooden sculpture, which he begun in the mid-1970s, is characteristically inspired by folk art. From the early 1980s, Stuller colaborated with the sculptor Juraj Mihalík in realizing the latter´s sculptures for architectonic designs. Since mid-1980s he worked in the ceramics workshop ART4, establishet by Mihalík. From the late 1990s onwards, Stuller´s own ceramic art production can be observed. Within his rich and diverse ceramic work, he focuses especially on original pottery and sculptural objects. After initial experimentation and attraction by postmodern stylization, he developed a notably analytical approach to ceramics, seeking inspiration in a variety of historical epochs and cultures. A decisive impulse here was his construction of a kiln, in which he fires pottery and objects using the traditional method of wood burning. Exploration of this technology provides the autor with new, inovative expressive possibilities. Stuller also makes use of his sculptural sensitivity and extensive experience with woodwork in his present job in the production section of a puppet theater.
Text: Jirí Olic, Peter Krsák; translation Kamila Stullerová