VOJTĚCH KOVAŘÍK

With his personal interest in Ancient Greek art and mythology as a point of departure, Kovařík has created a new body of work inspired by the myth of the Golden Apple, a story of obsession and desire, which ultimately sets the stage for the War of Troy. Large scale, immersive paintings of these mythical scenes—gods, goddesses, and ancient heroes—are on view across both floors of the gallery space. In the artist’s signature style, these figures appear to be set in stone, somehow frozen in the melancholy space of a pictorial frame that refuses to give their heaving bodies the space they need. Solidified by their own sculptural mass and presence, they appear to be as tired and jaded as they are imposing and visually arresting, as if there were no room for the old gods in today’s world.

Kovařík’s new body of work is the result of extensive experimentation and development of his painterly technique. A more pronounced use of sand, mixed with acrylic and spray paint, gives the figures their mass and volume while a surgical application of oil paint accentuates color and space within each painting’s composition. Crucially, this exhibition includes a group of sculptures realized in wood, sand, and acrylic paint, which will shine a light on Kovařík’s early training as a sculptor and ceramist, before he turned his hand to painting. The fil rouge remains evident, as we are confronted with real sculptures installed among paintings of sculptural bodies, showing the continuity and coherence of Kovařík’s practice which, despite the artist’s young age, displays an uncanny degree of maturity and artistic research.