EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURES



Academic sculptor Ján Ťapák

on the premises of Hotel Marrol's May 2011

It is not by chance that Ján Ťapák is exhibiting selected works of his sculpting on the premises of Hotel Marrol´s. Ján Ťapák, academic sculptor, a native of Bratislava, has been inseparably connected with the hotel since it opened in April 2003 and has left his mark on both the exterior and interior of this historical building.

The head of Lady Marrol, with her flowing hair and smiling face, has become the symbol of the hotel and her sincere, merry smile welcomes every guest in the foyer. The same optimism radiates from Ťapák’s trilogy of oil paintings.  Perhaps this is due to his initial impression of the hotel.  Looking back on the Hotel Marrol´s commission, he said, “When entering the premises, I was impressed by the fantastic atmosphere of this hotel with such magnificent charm in old Bratislava.  There have only been a few orders aside from the paintings and drawings for this interior that I pursued with such enthusiasm, joy and freedom.”

Let’s return to the Marrol’s trilogy of oil paintings: Chlapec v modrom (Boy in Blue), Dievča s kruhom (Girl with Hula-hoop) and Veselá príhoda alebo Labutie jazero (Funny Story or Swan Lake). The paintings provide hints of stories but leave room for people to complete them on their own. A boy in blue, a young man, a visionary, with a boat, dressed as a sailor alongside his inseparable dog on the deck of a ship, dreams his most beautiful boyhood dreams. The artist says, “I also had my own boyhood dreams, beautiful dreams. As a child I used to lift rocks and admire the little bugs underneath; I wanted to become a zoologist. In this painting everyone can see the end of his or her dream. 

Converging boards running from nowhere to somewhere – this is a road.”The second painting – Girl with Hula-hoop – has a parallel with the boy and the optimism of the paintings.  A daydreaming girl in the background, a dream of desires that come true in the foreground and a hula-hoop and a little lamb as a symbol of innocence. Girls like to dream their dreams too.  But not like boys, not on a ship like the Boy in Blue.  For this purpose they borrow the dresses of their mums; they play the role of an adult with a hula-hoop in their hands which completes the mood of the painting. Funny Story or Swan Lake is a practical joke.  But instead of ridiculing, it creates a good mood. Corpulent ballet dancers strike their last pose before the performance. The swan wings suggest a story that we can complete on our own.

Although Ján Ťapák’s domain is sculpting, his drawings in the magical Green Lounge and the Jasmine SPA Relaxation Center have also enriched the hotel. Ťapák’s comments as follows, “I like to draw, I do not copy; when doing a portrait I look for something that others can not see, therein lies my originality. I want to grasp what is characteristic for an individual.”The mood of Ťapák’s figural drawings - portraits, nudes, animals – it is an array of the wonderful grasping of the beauty of the moment – it is one of the gifts of the hotel to the guests as the hotel strive to create for them a temporary second home.

Ján Ťapák’s exhibition of sculptures brings selected works to the hotel’s interior.  They include works inspired by ancient Greek mythology and the popular theme of the world of animals, birds, insects and fish, as well as several bronze sculptures of samurais with their breathtaking attention to detail. The films of Japanese director, Akiro Kurosawa, and the samurais – an embodiment of honor and loyalty, men whose martial arts take your breath away, were Ťapák's inspiration for these sculptures.