Fabrice Flahutez about Slavko Kopac
An International Adventure in Surrealism, Art Brut and Informal Art
In April and May 1953, Kopac exhibited no fewer than thirty works, with evocative titles, in a wide variety of materials. Paintings sat alongside ceramics, glazed lava, sculptures, and unusual totems; commentary was provided in a preface to the exhibition by the great poet Benjamin Péret in the exhibition’s cardboard catalogue.
In summer 1954, L’Étoile scellée relocated to La Galería de Lima (Peru) for the group exhibition Pinturas surrealistas, organised through Wifredo Lam. Artists whose works were on display included Rachel Baes, Fred Deux, Óscar Domínguez, Enrico Donati, Max Ernst, Aline Gagnaire, Simon Hantaï, Jacques Hérold, Kopac, Félix Labisse, Wifredo Lam, René Magritte, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Ferdinand Springer, Dorothea Tanning, and Toyen.
The last exhibition at L’Étoile scellée in which Kopac participated, Quelques feux dans le brouillard… et des objets des mers du Sud, opened on 21 January 1955. The group show included Fahr-El-Nissa Zeid, Alberto Giacometti, Hantaï, Kopac, Jan Křížek, Lam, Marcelle Loubchansky, Magritte, Wolfgang Paalen, Picabia, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy, and Toyen.
This international exposure expanded Kopac’s visibility, and he caught the eye of Betty Asher (future exhibition curator for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), who arranged for one of his sculptures to be purchased by the Frank Perls Gallery in Los Angeles. The Frank Perls Gallery was closely linked to two other major American modern-art galleries: the Pierre Matisse Gallery and the Curt Valentin Gallery in New York. For Kopac, this was affirmation of the quality of his work, for the Frank Perls Gallery represented Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Dubuffet, and other celebrated names.
Soon after, in 1968, gallery owner Madelyn Adele Laugesen organised a retrospective of Kopac’s work at the Thor Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky.
From the book accompanying the exhibition Slavko Kopac: The Hidden Treasure. Informal Art, Surrealism, Art Brut. 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2025
Read the full essay in the book available at the link provided below: