Alex Mlynárčik

Mlynárčik is an important figure of the Slovak alternative scene. The key aspect of his practice is the introduction the idea of the unity of artistic creativity and the creativity of authentic life. His appropriation of reality – the transformation of “art-work” into “art-act” was an original contribution to actual international tendencies of the sixties. He studied at Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (Prof. Milly and Prof. Matejka, 1959-65) and Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (Prof. Sychra). Mlynárčik started with art in the early 1960s, making first mixed media compositions on wood. On his first visit to Paris in 1964 he found an immediate affinity with Nouveau Réalisme and Pierre Restany – their impact can be seen in the development of his carried out events – permanent manifestation – in Slovakia and France, 1965 onwards. In 1971 he co-founded a progressive architectural group VAL (Ways and Aspects of the Future). In 1972 he was excluded from Slovak Association of Fine Artists and considered to be a promoter of “ideas of bourgeois western art”. He was granted stipend from Ford Foundation (1972) and Guggenheim Foundation (1986). In 1990-91 he was director of Arts Gallery in Žilina