In the Beginning, There Was Fire

It all starts with a gentle but intense opposing hand movement, when one person wrings the other's forearm. Fire, an innocent child's game combines different stimuli and sensations, allowing us to experience first touches, uncertainty and trust, hints of intimacy or a shared moment. Then come the first experiments with a lighter, blazes of passion for a hobby, work burnout or flames of emotional and sexual outbursts. Fire is with us all our lives. And while every spark may not ignite a flame, it can leave a lasting trace. Adam Šakový belongs to the young generation of Slovak painters. His artistic practice is rooted in realistic representation, combined with post-conceptual mindset. Driven by fascination with painting as a medium, he methodically explores various strategies of representation and interpretation of visual information. He works within well-defined cycles, alternating between intimate topics and universal concepts. He adapts the language of painting to suit his artistic needs, unafraid to appropriate historical canons, compositions, colours, and techniques. His work oscillates between stylized still lifes and figurative compositions, depicting ordinary objects, portraits, and figures in relatively serene situations. Figuratively, mundane items often represent individuals, and their corporeal interactions serve as the driving force behind layers of ideas. His artworks suggest, depict, and communicate, without shouting or providing clear answers. Instead, they function as pictorial traps poised to unveil facets of meaning. The exhibition It the Beginning, There Was Fire marks Adam Šakový's first solo presentation in Prague. This new series of oil paintings and sculptures – the output of his systematic work from 2021 – thematically explores the semantics of fire. It delves into both intimate and shared issues, conveying them through a universal visual language that employs metaphors, personifications and symbolism. Šakový crafts imaginative scenarios that investigate emotions, behavioural archetypes and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. His works transition from feelings of calmness to subtly escalating uncertainty, culminating in unsettling scenes set in environments where time seems to have stood still. We see the central motifs in the foregrounds, presented within artistically refined situations that are closely aligned with realistic representation, occasionally approaching photorealism. While the fascination with painterly structures, historicizing devices, and muted palettes can be captivating in its own right, the true magic of the experience unfolds when one understands what lies behind the painting, what it preceded and what may follow. The new series centrally features the body and performative work involving physicality, creating a more personal and intimate experience compared to previous works, which primarily redefined visual appropriations. Nude or veiled figures exist in undefined settings, waiting anxiously and indecisively, perhaps seeking (temporary) refuge in physical or mental havens. They communicate through gestures and body language, appearing lonely with obscured faces. Their anonymity prevents us from seeing their emotions. These figures are preoccupied with their inner doubts rather than interpersonal concerns. Interactions of these characters may suggest physical closeness, while their inner connection remains uncertain. Šakový avoids specifying their identities, leaving them in ambivalent states, either exposed in their bare essence or clothed in neutral-coloured, flame-resistant suits. Šakový accentuates symbolism and meaning of the objects and the matter used. They become carriers of ideas, memories; they, communicate the principles of transformation and record processes. Captured in situations that lack logic and contact with reality, they blur the boundaries between the possible and the impossible, whether it is a candle burning from both sides evoking the fragility of existence, or bodies transformed into immobile charred lumps. For the first time, he also transfers physical elements from his oil paintings into three-dimensional forms – wooden and clay sculptures or handmade ceramic frames, created together with Simona Janišová. In the beginning there was fire, everything burned down and ashes remained. Still, the green leaf growing out of the charred tree designates hope and the promise of a new beginning.