Roman Ondák's Subterfuge: Blurring Art and Life

Roman Ondák, born in 1966 in Žilina, Slovakia and based in Bratislava, creates works that blur the boundary between aesthetic experience and everyday life. His practice involves decontextualizing objects and actions through displacement, repetition, and surrogacy. Notable works include 'Failed Fall' (2008), where he scattered out-of-season leaves in Sheffield Winter Garden; 'It Will All Turn Out Right in the End' (2005-2006), a replica of Tate's Turbine Hall; and 'Loop' (2009) for the 53rd Venice Biennale, where he replicated the Giardini landscape inside the Slovak and Czech pavilion. Ondák often collaborates with friends and family, as in 'Futuropolis' (2006) and 'Pocket Money of my Son' (2007). His work challenges notions of representation, reality, and institutional critique. An exhibition at Villa Arson in Nice is scheduled for summer 2010 (July 1 – October 17).