Exhibitions

Where is the idea, there is also an art – and the artist always finds a way how to transform his “mental processes” into artistic language. And perhaps no other art technology provides such a rich variety of ways how to express surreality of many situations in our daily lives, as it allows a collage technique. It allows us to see new, unexpected relationships, reveal a surprising connections, recognize unknowable and express unspeakable.

The name of this technique comes from the French word “collage”, which means “gluing”. Collage after several predecessors in ancient China (circa 200 BC), and Japan emerged in Europe in the 13th century – but the biggest boom reached only in the 20th century, when it mastered artists such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and many others. The founder of classical collage in today’s meaning is considered to be Max Ernst.

One of the most outstanding representatives of contemporary classical collage is a Slovak-German journalist, writer and visual artist Pavel Taussig, who has reached in this art the top level and remarkable achievements.

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Pavel Taussig was born on 24th November 1933 in Bratislava, Slovakia. From 1946 to 1953 he attended high school in Bratislava. Already there he expressed his satirical talent – he published the class magazine and for so-called “politically unsuitable” articles was almost expelled from the school. He studied librarianship and the Slovak language at the Comenius University in Bratislava, where he graduated in 1958. Since 1956 he worked in the Slovak Publishing House of Belles Lettres. In addition to his editorial work he had been writing satirical texts for Slovak and Czech press, sketches for radio as well as book reviews. In 1964, he became the writing editor of the humoristic magazine Rohac (in that time, besides the writing he created his first bubblenages).

After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968 Pavel Taussig emigrated to the former Federal Republic of Germany, where he found a new home in Frankfurt am Main. Since September 1968, he became an employee of the famous West German satirical monthly Pardon, where he worked 10 years as an editor for the art design of the magazine. Later, he co-founded the magazine Titanic, which had similar focus. Lastly he worked as editor of a medical magazine Ärzte Zeitung. In 1996, he retired. Pavel Taussig lives in Frankfurt am Main, where are living also his two sons and three grandchildren.

Although his first so called bubblenages created Pavel Taussig in the years 1964-68, systematically began to devote to this artistic activity only in the 80-ies. Bubblenages (= collages with text bubble): illustrations from the idyllic family magazines of the 19th century he complements by “anti-state text” in the text bubble (genre label “bubblenage” introduced significant Slovak theorist of humor Kornel Foldvari). When in the Western countries started to issue magazines of Czech and Slovak immigrants he had contributed to them by his work of art.

His first book “Kaputte Sprüche, Kino-Bilder neu vertont” was issued in 1981 by the publishing house Eichborn Verlag in Frankfurt am Main – book contained photos from the films supplemented by humorous texts in the clouds (bubbles). Another selection of Taussig’s bubblenages came out in book form entitled “Stupid, but our” 1987 in Skvorecky’s publishing house 68 Publishers in Toronto, Canada. In this publishing house already in 1985 was published a collection of satirical short stories “The unique holy“, which describes absurd practices of state institutions and situations from the everyday life in the comunistic society. Second edition of this book, subtitled “Unrealistic stories from the real socialism” published LITA, Bratislava in 1992. According to the cover short story filmed Slovak Television eponymous feature film. Since 1990 Pavel Taussig widely published bubblenages in the Czech and Slovak newspapers such as the renewed Kulturny Zivot, Arena, Bumerang, etc. Once the media stopped coming out, he switched to the creation of collages which he sends to the cartoon contests.

For his artworks he has won several major prizes and honorable mentions in particular competitions in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Canada. He is a member of the Slovak Union of Cartoonists and an honorary member of the Czech Union of Cartoonists. His artworks have been exhibited at many individual exhibitions – 3 times in Bratislava (Slovakia), 2 times in Prague (Czech Republic), 2 times in Frankfurt (Germany), Piestany (Slovakia), Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic), Vienna (Austria) and Toronto (Canada). Pavel Taussig also participated in countless collective exhibitions at home and abroad. Recently he published a satirical novel “Hana” (RAK, Budmerice 2012). At the festival Kremnica Gags in 2012 was Mr. Taussig awarded the prestigious prize “Golden Gander” for Lifetime Achievement.

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After several prominent creators of Cartoon Art we bring you today a representative selection from the artworks of the top master of Collage Art – Slovak-German journalist, writer and visual artist Pavel Taussig – enjoy his excellent art and a remarkable richness of ideas in his creative work.

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* See also the profile page of Pavel Taussig in the section “Gallery” – look here

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