Laďa Gažiová, a young and remarkable artist native from eastern Slovakia, after finishing the art school in Košice, continued her studies in Prague, first at the Academy of Fine Arts and afterwards at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (AAAD). Passing through the short periods of comics pictures and video projects she progressed to spray painting. There is an evident inspiration by the street-art, and the comics, in them; the subject matter of her works is very often violence, in a horror or parodic form, reminiscent of childlike or naive-art expression. The social and political themes are apparently present: motives like terrorist attacks, racial or gender issues, murders and suicides. Allusions to pop-culture and a poetic character of the painting alleviate the mostly gloomy scenarios. Gažiová uses the technique of graffiti, spraying paint over cut patterns on natural canvas, counting upon the impact of its raw structure, where the canvas stays bare. The narrative aspect of the paintings brings to mind the short and expressive folk songs, and makes visible the inspirations by the aesthetics and ornamental style of the eastern Slovakia gypsy communities. Gažiová herself is also an active musician, she plays drums in two bands.
Punctual and mature artistic expression of Laďa Gažiová appears to be effortless and brisk as it resembles the immediate and spontaneous working process and its records. Whether we interpret these pieces from lyrical or political point of view, they involve its own truth. They offer a possible understanding and at the same time they evade it. As Adorno used to say, the art works communicate as the fairies: you wish for something unconditional? you will have it, but you will not ever recognize it.
The viewer is dragged into the paintings: the communication with them is more relevant that its interpretation. What is fundamental here are the emotions.
Lenka Lindaurová