Artistic design of the set of four abstract reliefs in artificial stone installed at the Bratislava Central Railway Station was created in 1969–1971 by Juraj Rusňák in collaboration with the architect Ladislav Prümmer. The reliefs are arranged in an ingeniously irregular rhythm on a concrete wall, and point or guide the route to the post office building. They are thought by many to be part of the station design, but according to archival documents the investor was the Western Slovak Transport Authority in Bratislava. In her monograph on Rusnák, the art historian Ľuba Belohradská identified that a predominance of the sculptor's creations were for the postal and communications buildings. Within his monumental works, Juraj Rusňák focused on reliefs of abstract morphology, considering them to be the optimal artistic complement to architecture. Thematically, he drew inspiration from communication technology, currents, energies, waves, and other intangible phenomena, which liberated him to express himself in abstract language. The reliefs at the station depict variations of labyrinths, or insect tunnels, to which a principle of uncannily imperfect geometry applies. The sculptor focused on organic morphology, wherein regular elements and geometric patterns are unified with randomness, ephemerality, and spontaneity. It is these attributes that give his creations the magical appeal of mysteries, riddles, or obscure symbols derived from archetypal models and natural laws.

VB

Research status as of 31 December 2023.