The exhibition dedicated to Maria Bartusz (1936–1996), one of the most remarkable and long-neglected sculptors, opens on 6 May at 6.30 pm at the Museum of Modern Art. The project, poetically titled A Small Void Filled with a Small Infinite Universe, builds on the international success of her work, confirmed in recent years by presentations at London's Tate Modern and Salzburg's Museum der Moderne, for example.

Prague-born Maria Bartuszová, who spent most of her life working in the seclusion of Košice, Slovakia, developed an original sculptural language based on the relationships between matter, emptiness and touch. "The initial element of meaning for her was the vessel, an object creating a hollow shape. The vessel-vessel, similar in shape to a woman's body, is an archetypal symbol of motherhood, fertility, creativity, life and parenthood," explains curator Gabriela Garlatyová.

Visitors will see the key strands of the artist's work: from early biomorphic sculptures through experiments with so-called gravistimulated or pneumatic casting, which transform matter into a thin, almost vulnerable shell. Bartusz works with physical principles - pressure, gravity or inflation. "Around 1981 she also began experimenting with hollow balloon forms. In a state of solidification, she inserted thin egg-shaped shells into herself and layered them into Infinite Eggs," adds Gabriela Garlatyová.

Her work resonates today in a wider context – it is close to the work of Louis Bourgeois or Eva Hesse, for example. Yet it retains a unique position: a quiet, focused exploration of the relationships between man, nature and space.