Roman Ondak Roman Ondak

Roman Ondak

Born 1966 in Zilina, Slovakia. Lives and works in Bratislava.
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Spirit And Opportunity 1600X
Roman Ondak Exhibition Regensburg Foto Dita Lamac Ova 12
2017 Ro Aalborg W9A1457
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037 Kunsthalleda Telekom Romanondak Futuropolis 2006 Detail Installview 2019 Foto Kunsthalleda
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Roman Ondak Loop 02
Roman Ondak, Zone, 2010, functional oversized cloakroom, 100 coat racks, 1600 number tags, wooden counter, two performers. Exhibition view: Roman Ondak. Infinitum, Museu Tàpies, Barcelona (2023) Photo © Roberto Ruiz / Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona

Introduction

Roman Ondak's work evolves from a performative conception and consists of sculpture, installation, photography, drawing and performance. His medium is the everyday and society's sets of expectations, assumptions, automatisms and projections that shape our perception of reality. 

Full biography

Selected works

example
Roman Ondak
Crossword (Sunrise), 2025
Acrylic on inkjet print on paper mounted on Dibond
150 x 215 cm (unframed)
example
Roman Ondak
Melancholia, 2025
Patinated steel
80,5 x 16 x 25 cm (sculpture)
75 x 25 x 34 cm (plinth)
155,5 x 25 x 34 cm (overall)
example
Roman Ondak
Maja in Blue, 2025

Inkjet print on paper mounted on Dibond

67 x 101 cm (unframed)
example
Roman Ondak
Mars, 2022
Wooden crate, red dust

82,5 x 72,5 x 87 cm
example
Roman Ondak
Aeon, 2019

Wood, metal, paint
325 x 80 x 80 cm
example
Roman Ondak
Dripping Tap, 2016
Water tap, sink bracket, ball chain

141 x 13 x 39 cm
example
Roman Ondak
Storyboard, 2015

Empty spaces of the museum were drawn by Ondak’s friends and relatives based on his descriptions
Series of 20 drawings

50 x 60 cm approx. each, 20 parts (framed)
example
Roman Ondak
Clockwork, 2014
Performance
Dimensions variable
example
Roman Ondak
Affinity, 2014
Section of wooden door and doorframe, latch
3,5 x 14 x 9,5 cm
example
Roman Ondak
Strayed Sputnik, 2012
Bronze, concrete
148 x 45 x 41 cm 
example
Roman Ondak
Swap, 2011

Performance
example
Roman Ondak
Zone, 2010

Functional oversized cloakroom, 100 coat racks, 1600 number tags, wooden counter, two performers
Overall dimensions: 170 x 1050 x 1700 cm
example
Roman Ondak
Lucky Day, 2006

16mm film, color, silent
Duration 04:00 min (loop)
example
Roman Ondak
Spirit and Opportunity, 2004

Concrete, tennis court clay, lava stones
Dimensions variable
example
Roman Ondak
Leave the Door Open, 1999
Found brass door handle
24,5 x 11 x 5 cm
example
Roman Ondak
Untitled, 1998

Electric sockets, metal rods
Dimensions variable
example
Roman Ondak
Sea in my Room, 1997
Inkjet print on paper mounted on Dibond
49 x 73 cm (unframed)
example
Roman Ondak
Untitled (Six), 1992
Dried tea bags, display case, Plexiglas
26,4 x 33 x 9,3 cm

Gallery Exhibitions

Out of the Blue Roman Ondak

Out of the Blue

Roman Ondak
Esther Schipper is pleased to present Roman Ondak's Out of the Blue, the artist's second solo presentation with the gallery. On view will be sculptures as well as photographic works with various...
June 13—July 12, 2025
Esther Schipper, Berlin
En la casa de Marquès Esther Schipper Mallorca

En la casa de Marquès

Esther Schipper Mallorca
Visit us this summer for a special exhibition entitled Inside Marquès House in Palma de Mallorca held at the former residence of Martí Marquès Marquès, a historic house dating back to the...
July 12—31, 2021
Casa Museo Can Marquès, Palma de Mallorca
Perfect Society Roman Ondak

Perfect Society

Roman Ondak
Esther Schipper is pleased to announce Roman Ondak's first solo exhibition with the gallery. Entitled Perfect Society, the exhibition includes new sculptures, a painting, and works on paper. A major theme in...
September 13—October 26, 2019
Esther Schipper, Berlin

External Exhibitions

The Day After Yesterday Roman Ondak

The Day After Yesterday

Roman Ondak
Kunsthalle Praha will present The Day After Yesterday, the first major exhibition in Eastern and Central Europe of internationally acclaimed Slovak conceptual artist Roman Ondak. Offering a comprehensive overview of more than...
November 13, 2025—March 9, 2026
Kunsthalle Praha, Prague
Fragment of an Infinite Discourse With Rosa Barba, AA Bronson, David Claerbout, Ryan Gander, General Idea, Isa Melsheimer, Prabhavathi Meppayil,...

Fragment of an Infinite Discourse

With Rosa Barba, AA Bronson, David Claerbout, Ryan Gander, General Idea, Isa Melsheimer, Prabhavathi Meppayil, Roman Ondak, Anri Sala and Karin Sander
Fragment of an Infinite Discourse is the title of a work of art by Mexican conceptual artist Mario García Torres: three glass rings interlock without touching one another. The work serves as...
June 28, 2023—August 31, 2025
Lenbachhaus, Munich
Roman Ondak, Our Son Watching His Parents, 1998. Inkjet art print on Hahnemühle paper mounted onto the wall, 33,5 x 50 cm © the artist

Infinitum

Roman Ondak
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies presents a major solo exhibition from Roman Ondak. Featuring sculptures, spatial installations and photographs, Roman Ondak. Infinitum moves between fiction and reality, and is founded on personal past experiences in a society where reality was often...
May 12—November 22, 2023
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona
Still Alive – Aichi Triennale 2022 With Roman Ondak

Still Alive – Aichi Triennale 2022

With Roman Ondak
The Aichi Triennale 2022, an urban international art festival held every three years since 2010, seeks to address the question of how, in the post-COVID-19 era, we might recover a sense of daily life and socio-economic activity in order to...
July 30—October 10, 2022
Aichi Triennale, Aichi
Measuring the Universe Roman Ondak

Measuring the Universe

Roman Ondak
The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich will enact Roman Ondak's Measuring the Universe. The performative work, last seen at the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2007, has since been re-enacted at major international institutions.
June 3—September 25, 2022
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Someone Walking Around with Roman Ondak

Someone Walking Around

with Roman Ondak
Under the title Someone Walking Around, Belgian artist and curator Erich Weiss presents a cycle of performances and interventions that will take place during the spring of 2019, with Roman Ondak showing...
April 5—June 30, 2019
Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona
What Are We Made Of? Works from the Art Collection Telekom with Roman Ondak

What Are We Made Of? Works from the Art Collection Telekom

with Roman Ondak
What Are We Made Of?: Works from the Art Collection Telekom, the first exhibition of the year 2019 at the Kunsthalle Darmstadt, features about 35 works by artists from the cultural space...
January 26—April 28, 2019
Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Darmstadt
Useful Photography. Photography in Contemporary Slovak Art with Roman Ondak

Useful Photography. Photography in Contemporary Slovak Art

with Roman Ondak
Useful Photography. Photography in Contemporary Slovak Art will not present photography as a useful, fast recording medium, 'a document of the period', or as an instrument of digital manipulation, but as a...
November 9, 2018—February 17, 2019
Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava
Roman Ondak

Roman Ondak

mezzaterra11 – flat gallery presents Roman Ondak's exhibition, presenting Adams Keys ( 2016). Borrowing from everyday experiences, found objects and situation s that are often related to his personal history, Ondak creates...
October 26, 2018—January 31, 2019
mezzaterra11 – flat gallery
Based on True Events Roman Ondak

Based on True Events

Roman Ondak
In this exhibition featuring major recent works the internationally renowned Slovakian artist Roman Ondak takes toll of current social and political uncertainties. In a world of fake, alternative, and post facts the...
May 19—September 9, 2018
Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg
Man Walking Toward a Fata Morgana Roman Ondak

Man Walking Toward a Fata Morgana

Roman Ondak
To celebrate the centennial of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, The Arts Club of Chicago welcomes an exhibition by acclaimed Slovak artist Roman Ondak. Known for a conceptual oeuvre that draws on both participatory...
September 12—December 22, 2017
The Arts Club of Chicago
Tugendhat 1: Jiří David, Jiří Kovanda, Roman Ondak with Roman Ondak

Tugendhat 1: Jiří David, Jiří Kovanda, Roman Ondak

with Roman Ondak
The Villa Tugendhat presents an exhibition with Roman Ondak, among artists Jiří David and Jiří Kovanda, for the first week in May on the premises of the high modernist building in Brno,...
May 1—7, 2017
Villa Tugendhat, Brno
History Repeats Itself Roman Ondak

History Repeats Itself

Roman Ondak
March 25—September 17, 2017
Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg
The Source of Art is in the Life of a People Roman Ondak

The Source of Art is in the Life of a People

Roman Ondak
For his first solo show in London for more than a decade, internationally acclaimed artist Roman Ondak presents an exhibition lasting one hundred days that brings together a new body of work...
September 29, 2016—January 6, 2017
South London Gallery
Some Thing Roman Ondak

Some Thing

Roman Ondak
October 12—December 14, 2013
The Common Guild, Glasgow
Scene Roman Ondak

Scene

Roman Ondak
September 19, 2013—February 23, 2014
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Palacio de Cristal, Madrid
Roman Ondak Roman Ondak

Roman Ondak

Roman Ondak
September 28—December 16, 2012
Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris
Observations Roman Ondak

Observations

Roman Ondak
June 9—September 16, 2012
dOCUMENTA (13), Neue Galerie, Kassel
Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year Roman Ondak

Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year

Roman Ondak
April 26—June 18, 2012
Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin
Within Reach of Hand or Eye Roman Ondak

Within Reach of Hand or Eye

Roman Ondak
February 25—May 28, 2012
K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
Enter the Orbit Roman Ondak

Enter the Orbit

Roman Ondak
June 10—August 28, 2011
Kunsthalle Zürich
Time Capsule Roman Ondak

Time Capsule

Roman Ondak
March 12—May 20, 2011
Modern Art Oxford
Eclipse Roman Ondak

Eclipse

Roman Ondak
February 17—May 8, 2011
Fondazione Galleria Civica, Trento
Shaking Horizon Roman Ondak

Shaking Horizon

Roman Ondak
July 2—October 17, 2010
Villa Arson, Nice
Performance 4: Roman Ondak Roman Ondak

Performance 4: Roman Ondak

Roman Ondak
June 24—September 14, 2009
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Loop Roman Ondak

Loop

Roman Ondak
June 7—November 22, 2009
53rd Venice Biennale, Czech and Slovak Pavilion

Featured stories

Roman Ondak in Prag: Die ewige Wiederkehr menschlicher Abgründe monopol magazin
Press

Roman Ondak in Prag: Die ewige Wiederkehr menschlicher Abgründe

monopol magazin
Alexandra Wach writes about Roman Ondak's current exhibition The Day After Yesterday at Kunsthalle Praha.
Read article
Roman Ondak, Measuring the Universe
Exhibitions

Roman Ondak, Measuring the Universe

Roman Ondak Measuring the Universe Pinakothek der Moderne Barer Straße 40 80333 Munich June 3 – September 25, 2022 www.pinakothek-der-moderne.de Beginning June 3, 2022, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich will enact...
June 3 – September 25, 2022
Diversity United with Roman Ondak, Ugo Rondinone and Anri Sala
Exhibitions

Diversity United with Roman Ondak, Ugo Rondinone and Anri Sala

⁠ Diversity United presents an artistic tour d'horizon of Europe currently. The trans-national exhibition shows paintings, sculptures, videos, new media, photographies, installations, drawings and object of art by about 90 artists from 34...
June 9 – September 19, 2021
Spotlight: Roman Ondak
Continuity

Spotlight: Roman Ondak

This week for our Spotlight we present Roman Ondak's Bad News, 2018.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Bad News consists of a round table with three papier-mâché spheres placed on its tabletop. As is characteristic of...
Roman Ondak included in Sequences VIII: Elastic Hours
Events

Roman Ondak included in Sequences VIII: Elastic Hours

We're pleased to announce Roman Ondak's participation in the eigth edition of Sequences. While Sequences uses the term “real time” to refer to time-based media, Sequences VIII: Elastic Hours considers how the term might be applied to the...
October 6–15, 2017
Roman Ondak to receive 2018 Lovis Corinth Prize
Events

Roman Ondak to receive 2018 Lovis Corinth Prize

Esther Schipper congratulates Roman Ondak, recipient of the 2018 Lovis Corinth Prize. Read more
Roman Ondak
Exhibitions

Roman Ondak

May 1 – 7, 2017

Publications

Roman Ondak New Observations

Roman Ondak

New Observations
'New Observations is the must have sequel to Roman Ondak's artist book Observations. Both complement the conceptual artwork the artist has been developing since 1995. The series of photographs, appropriated from a...
2018
Roman Ondak History Repeats Itself

Roman Ondak

History Repeats Itself
This publication was published on occasion of the artists' exhibition History Repeats Itself at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg in 2017. It is a personal and metaphysical journey into the landscapes...
2017
Roman Ondak Guide

Roman Ondak

Guide
Roman Ondak. Guide is an artist's book co-published by Mousse and Verlag Der Buchhandlung Walther König for the exhibitions at Villa Arson-Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Nice, Salzburger Kunstverein and Fondazione Galleria Civica-Centro...
2012
Roman Ondak Measuring the Universe

Roman Ondak

Measuring the Universe
In this volume the Slovak artist Roman Ondak has brought together some of his works that deal with time, measurement, boundaries, and experience. Alongside a complete documentation of the exhibition “Measuring the...
2009
Roman Ondak LOOP

Roman Ondak

LOOP
LOOP accompanies Roman Ondak’s internationally acclaimed work in the Czech and Slovak pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. This book is comprised of drawings, notes and photographs as well as...
2012
Roman Ondak Fail to Fall

Roman Ondak

Fail to Fall
The first Slovak-English publication dedicated to Roman Ondak (1966) describes the work of the world’s most prestigious Slovak artist in a metonymic abbreviation - on the project Fail to Fall from 2010....
2021
Roman Ondak Event Horizon

Roman Ondak

Event Horizon
With more than four hundred illustrations, installations, photographs, drawings, videos and performances spanning three decades, Event Horizon is the most extensive monograph on Roman Ondak s work to date. Slovak artist Roman...
2024