Roman Ondak Untitled (Six), 1992

Seen through the yellow Plexiglas panel of a wooden display case, neatly ordered rectangular shapes form a horizontal line. The modular elements are in fact six used tea bags and the uneven distribution of their leaves give them distinct colorations and varying volumes.

This significant early work by Roman Ondak stems from his years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, yet it already conveys major themes of the artist’s deeply felt conceptual practice. Ondak would go on to forge a coherent oeuvre employing the everyday—human behavior and its physical traces—as a potent medium.