roman ondak
1966, Slovakia
Roman Ondak plays with ideas of relocation, representation, and the duplication of experience, shifting and sharpening the viewer’s attention to everyday life. Growing up under the communist regime of former Czechoslovakia, the artist became attentive to systems of inclusion and exclusion that ordered this particular society. Questioning the failure of the communist structure in his work, Ondak explores the potential for different orders—new patterns of behavior, and ultimately, alternative social and political possibilities. His work is often quite subtle, infiltrating the spectator’s surroundings in imaginative and quiet ways, suggesting a renegotiation with reality. Adopting an almost anthropological approach, he recombines aspects of the quotidian with his incisive artistic wit, opening up space to challenge the rules of the everyday through his poetic alterations. Ondak’s work is not only curious about the rituals and assumptions that govern our lives; he is playfully interrogative of the art system as well as society at large, urging us to greater awareness.
Roman Ondak studied graphic design and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava from 1988 to 1994. He also studied at Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania (1993); Collegium Helveticum in Zurich (1999–2000); the CCA in Kitakyushu (2004); he has had grants from the DAAD in Berlin (2007/08) and the Villa Arson in Nice (2010).
Roman Ondak currently lives and works in Brat.
the hill seen from afar, 2011
bonsai tree, dried moss, various materials
variable dimensions
installation kunstsammlung nordrhein-westfalen (k21), düsseldorf, 2012
keyhole, 2012
installation
1.57 x 1.57 x .28 in
installation deutsche guggenheim, berlin
sharing the room, 1998
installation view hotel unterbergnerhof, austrian alps
capture, 1991
iron and copper wires, plywood
20.8 x 23.23 x 3.66 in
occupied balcony, 2002
color photograph mounted on dibond
16.14 x 23.23 in
installation at town hall, graz
lucky day, 2006
16 mm color film
4:00 min loop
catch, 2010
installation
dimensions variable
loop, 2009
color pencil, felt-tip pen and postcard on cut-out paper
8.15 x 8.27 in
escena, 2013
installation
palacio de cristal, madrid
escena, 2013
installation
palacio de cristal, madrid
glimpse, 2010
pencil on found prints, series of 12
variable dimensions
measuring the universe, 2007
documentation of performance
enter the orbit, 2011
96 miniature models of sputnik 1 made by the artist and his friends
detail of the installation
signature, 2014
set of 50 sculptures, mixed media
variable dimensions
spirit and opportunity, 2004
concrete, tennis court clay, lava stones
overall dimensions 19.69 x 393.7 x 1574.8 in
after return from orbit, 2011
installation
23.62 x 122.05 x 23.62 in
sk parking, 2001
black and white photograph mounted on dibond
33.46 x 28.19 in
zone, 2010
functional oversized cloakroom and two performers
installation and performance at 6th berlin biennale, berlin
sated table, 1997
silkscreen print on cardboard and paper, kitchen utensisl, kitchen table
39.37 x 36.22 x 23.23 in
good feelings in good times, 2003
documentation of performance
museo tamayo, mexico city; wiels, brussels; casino luxembourg, luxembourg; kölnischer kunstverein, cologne; tate collection, london
cubic floor, 1996
cut and reconfigured parquet flooring
19.69 x 19.69 x 19.69 in
ein museum, 2009
documentary photographs of intervention
ein museum, 2009
documentary photographs of intervention
somewhere else, 2002
series of 10 drawings made by the artist in collaboration with his parents
each between 7.87 x 11.41 and 16.53 x 21.06 in
passage, 2004
silver foil sculptures made from chocolate bar wrappers by 500 japanese steel workers, table
37.4 x 236.2 x 189 in
antinomads, 2000/2006
series of 12 postcards, 4.1 x 5.8 in each
antinomads, 2000/2006
100 postcards, album, table
variable dimensions
the stray man, 2006
documentation of action
Past solo exhibitions include: Measuring the Universe, Tate Modern, London (2025); Infinitum, Fundació Antoni Tapies, Barcelona (2023); Roman Ondak. Based on True Events, Kunstforum Osdeutsche Galerie Regensburg, Germany (2018); Roman Ondak. History Repeats Itself, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark (2017); Roman Ondak: The Source of Art is in the Life of a People, South London Gallery (2016); Roman Ondak: Storyboard, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China (2015); Roman Ondak. Escena, Palacio de Cristal, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2013); Roman Ondak: Some Thing, The Common Guild, Glasgow, Scotland (2013); Roman Ondak: do not walk outside this area, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2012); Roman Ondak, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2012); Enter the Orbit, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (2011); Time Capsule, Modern Art Oxford, England (2011); Roman Ondak: la exposición se desvaneció sin dejar rastro, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2011); Before Waiting Becomes Part of Your Life, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria (2010); Measuring the Universe, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2007); It Will All Turn Out Right in the End, Tate Modern, London (2006); among others.
Past group exhibitions include: An Exhibition for Children (and Other People), Kunstverein Hannover, Alemania (2025); Don’t Dream Dreams – Works from the Art Collection Telekom, MG+MSUM, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2023); Fragment of an Infinite Discourse, Lenbachhaus (with pieces from the KiCo Foundation), Münich (2023); The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (2021); Keeping the Balance, Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary (2020); Gegen die Strömung. Reise ins Ungewisse, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany (2018); Experiencia Infinita, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Buenos Aires (2015); Des choses en moins, des choses en plus, Palais de Tokyo, Paris. (2014); La realidad invocable, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Spain (2014); El cazador y la fábrica, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2013); Golrausch: Gegenwartskunst aus, mit oder über gold, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany (2012); Invisible: Art about the Unseen 1957-2012, Hayward Gallery, London (2012); Tate St Ives Summer Exhibition 2011, Tate St Ives, England (2011); Ostalgia, New Museum, New York, NY (2011); September 11, MoMA PS1, New York, NY (2011); Taking Place, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2010); The Promises of the Past,1950-2010, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2010); 100 Years, MoMA PS1, New York, NY (2009); The Quick and the Dead, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (2009); El Medio es el Museo, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo (MARCO), Spain (2008); No More Reality. Step 3: SHARED FOLDER, de Appel, Amsterdam (2008); The World as a Stage, Tate Modern, London (2007); Why Pictures Now?, Museum Moderner Kunst (MMK), Vienna (2006); Populism, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany, and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2005); among others.
Ondak has also participated in the following biennials: Kathmandu Triennale, Nepal (2017); 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2013); International Art Exhibitions and Czech and Slovak Pavilions at the 54th, 53rd, 50th and 48th editions of the Venice Biennial (2011, 2009, 2003 and 1999); 5th Liverpool Biennial, England (2008); 8th Panama Art Biennial, Panama City (2008); 7th Shanghai Biennale, China (2008); 27a Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2006) and Prague Biennale 1, Czech Republic (2003).
museo de arte of the universidad nacional de colombia presents Óscar Murillo. Conditions Yet not Known
Watch the video published by the Tate about Roman Ondak's piece Measuring the Universe.
In the exhibition Based on True Events, the Slovak artist Roman Ondak deals with the current social and political imponderables.
The intervention entitled Objects in the Mirror, created specifically for the non-profit space of BASE, confirms the interest of the famous Slovak neo-conceptual artist to create unprecedented experiences with which to shift the public's attention on the methods of discovery, perception and practice both of reality and of the experience of art.
