Jan Skorka Lauko

I was born in 1966, the last day of the sign of Cancer on the Slovak-Hungarian border in the town of Levice. I have been painting, drawing and everything connected with art since I was fifteen years old. However, according to eyewitnesses and unprovable evidence, shortly after I saw the material world, I started to reach for the pencil, the brush and everything that left a mark on paper. I also soon learned to leave my cot secretly for the vicinity, where the white surfaces were a magnet and an invitation to the displeasure of all. My love of art and innate optimism helped me overcome many dramatic moments in my life. The smell of paint, turpentine, white canvas, these were and are the pillars of my life. I have enjoyed all of this sufficiently, and though I have many years of experience on the odometer of my life, I still always like to seek and even more prefer to find. I am a hedonist, a philosopher and a lover of beauty and the extraordinary - the proof is the beautiful woman who has given me the honour of being her husband and who is a profound source of inspiration and zest for life. My work was initially quite difficult to define, as it had no fixed boundaries. Each period of my life demanded its own means of expression, which brought a certain heterogeneity and inconsistency in form, style and content to my work. It was only after many years of searching that the unifying element in my paintings became a genre motif - a kind of mirror of life with a dose of satire and a touch of irony. Even in the style and subject matter itself there was initially a certain duality in my paintings, which later united into a work brimming with dynamism, expressive colouring and rich imagination. I work in oil painting, drawing, printmaking and partly in sculpture. I have left my artistic mark in many places through my paintings, and whether it was profound I leave to the judgment of the consumers. Perhaps everyone has always found a piece of my story in one of my works. . From the catalogue. The work of Jan Skorka Lauko has taken a somewhat different path. There is not so much of a desire for recognition, it is not particularly revelatory or systematic, it is not subject to fashion trends, and it cannot really be classified as belonging to an artistic movement. Many experts often don't even know what to make of it, which is why it is increasingly the subject of debate. The work of Jan Skorka Lauko is critically quite difficult to grasp. The artist himself emphasises that the essence of his paintings is the simple joy of creation, even if it is not just a matter of painting at home. The essence of his artistic work lies in a kind of narrative of his paintings. The artist doesn't paint, he tells a story, and each of his paintings is a hidden story. His paintings are full of irony, satire and a distinctive point of view with an eye for detail. The artist does not look for any artistic shortcuts. He tells a story from beginning to end. His paintings are actually created in the process of creation. Jan Skorka Lauko is well aware of his position as an outsider. He tries to give his art away and, unlike contemporary established artists, his work is authentic and sincere. This is evidenced by the increasing interest of collectors, galleries and the general public. It is worth pondering why, what sense and what energy compels many non-professional and untrained painters to express themselves in an authentic, completely free, almost unrestrained way to the world around them and to life in general. It would be a mistake to attribute this to a kind of folkness, as it is rooted in tradition and within the given boundaries of certain regions. It is difficult to fit the artist's work into various boxes, let alone the boxes of folk art. So if it is not a folkness growing out of the massive undergrowth of tradition, nor is it a primitive and cheap attempt at extravagant kitsch that has ambition in the exhibitionism of some artists, then another explanation for this phenomenon must be sought. For those interested and collectors, the beautiful and pure world of Jan Skorka Lauko's absurd stories is hereby offered. The personality of this talented painter still remains unappreciated despite the fact that his work has been awarded at many international exhibitions in Slovakia, Poland, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Israel, America, Canada, etc. -VK-