Oton Polak
Beetles, 1980
series of drawings, ink on paper, 50 x 70 cm
courtesy of Marja Polak
This series of ink drawings was created for the first EKO, then called the 1st Yugoslav Triennial Ecology-Art, which took place at the Razstavni salon Rotovž in Maribor at the end of 1980. Oton Polak, with his distinctive line drawing, turned to a subject matter untypical in his larger body of work – insects. Beetles, butterflies, and moths are arranged in a grid system in what appears to be a scientific typological classification of the animal kingdom, organising the fantasy arthropods into a structure ordered around interrelationships. We can identify similarities between the various species of insects depicted, look for differences and trace possible mutations. We can attribute personalities to the animals and thus become aware of their autonomy and agency, which is uncharacteristic in standard representations of insects. This is what makes the occasional positions of insects turned on their backs all the more moving, almost horrifying. The series represents a fascinating anomaly in the extraordinary oeuvre of a prolific painter and artistic authority of Maribor, and testifies to the artist’s interest in ecological themes at a time when Polak served as a board member of Razstavni salon Rotovž, where the EKO Triennial was founded under the leadership of Meta Gabršek Prosenc.
Beetles I., 1980, ink on paper, 50 x 70 cm, courtesy of Marja Polak
Oton Polak (b. 1917, Maribor, d. 2011, Maribor) was a Slovenian painter, graphic artist, and teacher. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where he belonged to the first generation of students of the newly founded school. He graduated under Gojmir Anton Kos and continued his postgraduate studies under Gabrijel Stupica, where he specialised in painting, and under Božidar Jakac, where he completed the printmaking programme. For two decades he worked as an art teacher, first at a primary school, and later at the secondary technical school, both in Maribor. He was the secretary and the president of the Maribor Fine Artists’ Association, chairman of the board of the Razstavni salon Rotovž, and a member of the board and the artistic council of the parent association in Ljubljana. He participated in painting colonies in Prilep, Škofja Loka, Ravne na Koroškem, Ptuj, Novo mesto, and Gorenjske Selce. He took study trips to Austria, Germany, Great Britain, and France. During a career that spanned more than 50 years, he exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, both at home and abroad. He received numerous prizes and awards, including the Prešeren Prize for the series of prints The Old Maribor (1953), Maribor Cultural Magazine Painting Prize (1960, 1967), DSLU Purchase Prize (1972), DLUM Prize (1984), Maribor Art Gallery Purchase Prize (1985), Bronze Medal for Painting at the Salon de Lutece, Paris (1986), plaque of the Association of Cultural Organisations of Maribor (1987), Bronze Coat of Arms of the City of Maribor (1987), Janko Glazer Lifetime Achievement Award (1988), and the Prize of the Association of Slovene Artists’ Societies for 2006.
