Ján Berky: Desire to display / Miro kamľaripen te sikhavel    

Ján Berky has been creating and exhibiting since the late 1970s. He chooses the technique, material and size of the substrate according to the current situation and does not allow himself to be stopped by the lack and says himself "What I have, I do with it". He depicts the surrounding world in his drawings, graphics and paintings. He paints portraits, reflects on events or illustrates, as for example in his line drawings with the theme of racism, with which he completes the poems of Margita Reiznerová. His paintings of settlements, almost idyllic at first glance, but not so idyllic after a deeper look, show Berky's perception of the relationship with the majority, such as the image of a settlement in the background with blockhouses and a wall with the symbolic name So amen rozpaghiľa? (What divided us?) from 1998. Above all, in his tempera paintings, it is possible to see a distinctive handwriting that already exceeds the framework of naive art and gradually develops into an interesting and distinctive style, in which it is possible to perceive elements of the influence of modern painting. The drawings are more diverse in style, and some could certainly work well as illustrations in books with Romani stories. Berky's "Romipen" (Roma) is a distinct inner source of creation and is also an easily identifiable element of his work.