Albert Sukalski • DEATH VALLEY PROJECT

AN ART HAPPENING ON THE DESERT

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“Rhyolite, Nevada, October 19 - Albert Szukalski, an artist from Antwerp, Belgium, known there as a "situation maker" and sculptor of "ghost images," is creating a contemporary interpretation of "The Last Supper" on one of the lower plateaus of Bonanza Mountain in Nevada, just across the border from California. It will remain on the site, which is also near the mining town of Rhyolite, for two years.

The life-sized sculptures are spaced along nearly fifty feet of the mountain shelf and should be visible to travelers on the Daylight Pass into Death Valley, as well as U.S. Highway 95, the main surface route between Reno and Las Vegas. At night, special lighting techniques will be used to enhance the figures and create the suggestion of a table.

The technique he uses for what have been most often described as "ghost images" requires a live model to be wrapped in protective plastic, then draped with a type of cloth soaked in wet plaster. When the plaster sets, the model slips out, leaving the rigid shroud that surrounded him. With considerably more refining, Szukalski then coats the figures with fiberglass, making them impervious to the weather. His models are residents of Rhyolite and the nearby town of Beatty.

His original inspiration came from a 19th-century steel engraving after Leonardo da Vinci's famous fresco painting of "The Last Supper" in the refectory at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. He is consistent with the formal composition of four groups of three apostles each, with the lone Christ figure in the center.

There was no table in the earlier version, but Szukalski plans to use fiber optics or neon to suggest a table at the Death Valley site in the hours from sunset to sunup.

Szukalski, who was the first to call his figures "ghosts," describes them as "the result of patient, scrupulous craftsmanship with no grandiose demonstration of esoteric skill or technical research."

"I hope that through these forms, others can experience the emotions of awe, anger, sadness, and joy that I feel are more embodied in the shapes and scale of the work. I realize I may be in sharp contrast to the mainstream of contemporary art. Most of my peers seem to prefer the spontaneous, discovered during the working process, rather than setting a theme."

He explains that he chose the Death Valley location for the sculpture for not only its surreal aspects but the symbolic as well. "Perhaps thousands had their last meal here before embarking across that forbidding desert," says Szukalski. "For many, it probably was literally their last meal. How many gamblers are looking for their last chance in the nearby casinos of Las Vegas? How many prospectors had their last chance in played-out gold mines of the area? The fact that the nuclear testing grounds are not far from here also is significant in choosing the site."

The original cultural meaning of the Seder table of the Hebrew Passover does not escape his attention. "It was, after all, a place for free men and women to ponder and thank their God for deliverance from bondage. I hope when people see these forms, they will share the emotions of awe, anger, sadness, and joy."

The sculpture will be unveiled in Rhyolite at four in the afternoon on Saturday, October 27, at a ceremony held under the auspices of The Honorable Andre C. Adam, Belgian Consul General in Los Angeles. The Honorable Richard Bryan, Governor of Nevada, is the planned guest of honor. The next day, the sculpture will be moved to the site on Bonanza Mountain.

Since an estimated 750,000 travelers come through the area each year, there is the potential for a great many people to experience those feelings intended by Szukalski over the next two years.

• Keith H. Walker

Charles Albert Szukalski Artist C.V.

1960-1961 : Travels in the USA, specifically San Francisco and Oakland, California.

1962 : Worked in the ateliers of the painters Jef Verheyen, Vic Gentils and Paul Van Hoeydonck

Studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium

1968 : First exhibitions with collages; object exhibitions in Antwerp, Breda (NL), Brussels

Group exhibitions throughout Europe

1970 : KOZIE KORNER KITSCH with Cesar Bailleux at the Cream Cheese Gallery, Dusseldorf,

BELGIAN ART BETWEEN 60-70, Das Kunstverein Belgian House, Cologne, Germany

The Venice Biennial, collaboration with Gunther Uecker and Jef Verheyen

1971 : PROJECT NOSES, Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium

1972

48 PORTRAITS ON A NOSE BASE, Iris Clert Gallery, Paris, France

HOMMAGE TO MONET, Knokke Casino Easter exhibit, with Jef Verheyen

The Bruges Triennial, Belgium

1973 - 1980 : Group and one-man shows

SURREALISTIC ART IN BELGIUM, on tour through France: Paris, Avignon, Bordeaux, Rouen
ANTWERP AFTER G. 58, Marcel Peters' Gallery, Antwerp

BELGIAN ART ABROAD, group show in Rome and Milan,

The Hans Liechti Gallery, Grenchen, Venice

The Krabbedans Gallery, Eindhoven, NL

Museum purchases: 

The Middelheim Open Air Museum (Antwerp, Belgium) Biennial; permanent exhibit as part of the collection of the museum, entitled "DIALOGUE", life-size figures

Shows in Belgium:

Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, Veurne, Ostend, Bruges

1973 - 1980

LUGGAGE EXHIBITION (Assemblage), Black Panther Gallery, Antwerp

SZUKALSKI RETROSPECTIVE, Six Days at the Campo Gallery; Antwerp

SAFARI SHOW with Benoit's Fur Fashion show at the Black Panther Gallery, Antwerp

PATATE COSAQUE, bronzes, Black Panther Gallery, Antwerp

SZUKALSKI AND THE EIGHT, Black Panther Gallery in Antwerp: Eight political portraits (lithographs) produced by Pink Editions and Productions

OBJECT EXHIBITION (assemblages), Romi Goldmuntz Centre, Antwerp

FUNERAL EXHIBITION, 13 Tombstones, Vecu Gallery, Antwerp

BLOOD PAINTINGS, Arges Gallery, Brussels

THE WAR IS OVER! (1972), 13 self-portraits on an Andy Warhol base

Presentation of the LAST SUPPER in the National Park of the city of Veurne

1980 - 1983

DRAPAGES, Hugo Goderis Gallery, Veurne

Bronze medal for THE SNOW (painting) in the

trans-European competition at the city of Ostend, Belgium, 

PORTRAIT OF THE PAINTER SZUKALSKI, a 15 minute TV film by Kurt and Co., broadcast on the Belgian radio and television, with Kurt Van Eeghem; a study of VOYAGE D'UN FOU

Casino Projects with theatre;

Six plays at the Herman Teirlinck studio, Francois Beukelaers, 

director's productions of OEDIPOES, FAUT PAS, ECOLOGIES, SOMEWHAT, SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW, and SACRIFICIAL LAMB, 

SIGN AND LANGUAGE (Group), City Hall Mortsel, Belgium, Humanistic Society

LE VOYAGE D'UN FOU (drawings), Centenaire Gallery, Antwerp

Stage settings and costumes for The Royal Youth Theatre of Antwerp's production of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, directed by M. Schillemans

AND NOW, TO BED, a musical directed by Jan Verbist

1984

CYNICAL DRAWINGS, Daidalos Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 

DRAPAGES AND DRAWINGS, Eglanteyn Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 

Start of the Nevada project; tour in the U.S. (California and Nevada)

17 September, 1984 - Commencing LAST SUPPER, Death Valley/Rhyolite, Nevada

27 October 1984 - DEATH VALLEY PROJECT UNVEILING