Foam in the cage – Martin Chramosta, Juraj Rattaj

Artists: Juraj Rattaj (SK) a Martin Chramosta (CH/CZ/AT)

Opening: 15.4. - 19.00

Exhibition: 15.4. - 10.5. 2026

Curator: Róbert Repka

Modern humans have always strived to obtain and maintain a significant degree of control and management over the natural world. By possessing nature, modern culture has convinced itself to have the ultimate independence, autonomy and sovereignty over its surroundings.

Juraj's work addresses these processes within the space of a ZOO, a modern heterotopia which blurs the line between wilderness and captivity, nature and culture, life and death. He challenges any notion of the pristine and unravels hidden biopolitical dynamics of knowledge, power and control.

By a metaphor of a "foam in the cage", Martin points to a wider socio-political context and demonstrates the deficiency of any power regime to subdue, imprison, or subjugate. He shows how forms are unruly and evasive; they escape and expand.

Foam in the Cage is both a literal description and a blurred metaphor, suggesting the futility of trying to capture something that is, by its very nature, ungraspable. The work connects a love of freedom with a somber premonition, balancing between a dystopian feeling and a sense of escapist relief.

You can find the full curatorial text here.

Photo: Martin Žovinec

The activities of Gallery FOR MAAT are supported from public funds by the Slovak Arts Council, which is the main partner of the project. Gallery FOR MAAT is a partner of Trenčín 2026. Trenčín 2026 is financially supported by the City of Trenčín, the Trenčín Self-Governing Region, and the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. The European Union is a partner.