Roman Ondak

Roman Ondak is an internationally acclaimed contemporary artist from Slovakia, whose work thoughtfully explores social conventions, hierarchies, and everyday experience. Through subtle shifts in meaning and the recontextualisation of ordinary situations, he draws attention to the structures that govern both social interaction and the art world itself. Ondak’s conceptual approach creates spaces in which the familiar becomes newly visible, often with gentle humour and striking clarity.

Born in 1966, he studied graphic design and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (1988–1994). His education continued at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania (1993), Collegium Helveticum in Zurich (1999–2000), and CCA Kitakyushu in Japan (2004). He has been the recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including DAAD in Berlin (2007/08) and Villa Arson in Nice (2010).

Ondak represented Slovakia at the Venice Biennale in 2009. In 2012, he participated in dOCUMENTA (13) and was named Deutsche Bank’s “Artist of the Year.” In 2018, he was awarded the Lovis Corinth Prize.

His works are held in major international collections, including the Centre Pompidou (Paris), Kunsthaus Zürich, Tate Modern (London), Neue Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. He is regarded as one of the leading conceptual artists in Europe today.