Navigácia v tekutej dobe. Ikonológia plavby v súčasnej slovenskej maľbe
Navigating Liquid Times. Iconology of Voyage in Slovakia’s Contemporary Painting

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to draw attention to the surprising frequency of images and motifs of boats and ships in Slovakia’s contemporary painting, to offer ways in which they may be contextualized and interpreted, and thus to contribute to understanding this comprehensive and fascinating aspect of visual culture: nautical iconology. Images of boats, navigation, and nautical motifs appear to be widespread because boat imagery is firmly anchored in our collective imagination and cultural memory. Nautical depictions communicate under conditions that require us to recognize the position of individual participants and observers of a voyage, taking all their perspectives into account. Such pictures are images of navigation—seeking and maintaining the proper course—which demands effort and determination to withstand unfavourable circumstances, yet depends in part on luck. For this reason, they are also metaphors of human existence: they reveal the life conditions of society and the individual, determining and shaping our experience, limits, and expectations in both the past and our present liquid age.

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