At a time when the art world is attempting to rewrite a history that has largely benefited male artists, Tate Modern is staging a show of work by Slovak sculptor Maria Bartuszová (1936–1996). Her unique biomorphic casts touch on big themes such as belonging, growth and infinity. Bartuszová worked outside the traditional centres of contemporary art, yet her pieces are far from marginal. A retrospective at Tate Modern will offer a comprehensive take on her vision and resourcefulness.
The artist was born in Prague, but shortly after her studies, she moved to Slovakia. First, to her husband’s birthplace, a Hungarian-speaking village called Kamenín, and later to Košice, now Slovakia’s second biggest city and back then a rapidly developing urban area in the country’s east.
