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Tales From The Dark Forest

Tales from The Dark Forest, installation view
Tales from The Dark Forest, installation view
Tales from The Dark Forest, installation viewAnna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Tales from The Dark Forest, installation viewAnna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021 Swan mixed media, 2019
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021 Swan mixed media, 2019
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021 Swan mixed media, 2019 Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021 Swan mixed media, 2019 Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová the Permanent Paradises series prints on paper, 2022
Eva Jaroňová the Permanent Paradises series prints on paper, 2022
Eva Jaroňová the Permanent Paradises series prints on paper, 2022
Eva Jaroňová the Permanent Paradises series prints on paper, 2022
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022 Gabriela Palijová What If? video, 2021
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022 Gabriela Palijová What If? video, 2021
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022 Gabriela Palijová What If? video, 2021
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022 Gabriela Palijová What If? video, 2021
Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021 Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022
Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021 Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022
Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021
Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022 Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022 Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022

Location

Entrance Gallery

Curator

Veronika Čechová

Photography

Martin Brazina

Subheadline

Štěpán Brož, Eva Jaroňová, Tereza Melková, Gabriela Palijová, Anna Slama&Marek Delong

Text

Advanced societies that depend on technology seem to be afraid of anything supernatural. They ridicule and ostentatiously challenge any belief in rationally unexplainable phenomena, experiences and events. But what to do in a situation where “reliable” science and technology is failing and no longer able to mitigate our fear of what is to come? What to do when we have come to realize that human inventions and conveniences are in fact changing the life on our planet for the worse? Perhaps it is time to go back to the kind of knowledge that is not based on rigorous scientific research, but which can nevertheless offer possible and viable patterns of behavior in a state of crisis. Archetypal stories known in various forms across different cultures, such as myths, fables or fairy tales, represent folk resources of learning and knowledge that have the potential to make us better understand what is happening around. Their basic characteristic is also that we intuitively believe them from a very young age. There is something trustworthy and believable in their (often apparent) straightforwardness, even though they are frequently teeming with non-existent entities. And their message is engrained in us although we scornfully dismiss them later on, or even mock our childish naivety with which we saw them as real. And in the times of a crisis, we secretly rely on them, hoping that their legacy telling us that we will overcome the hardships and reach a “happy ending” is valid. The authors of the works included in the exhibition entitled Tales from the Dark Forest are not afraid of mystery stories. Their work confirms the relevance of fantastic realms and the idea of supernatural forces that interfere in human destinies in terms of art even in a world that has nearly abandoned ancient customs that are based on natural rhythms and bordering on magical rituals. And the fact that they too are able to take a critical distance and provide their work with an ironic touch does not decrease the relevance of their focus. The artistic duo Anna Slama and Mark Delong have long been inventing and creating their own mythology. Their artworks stemming from their rich imagination often thematise supernatural beings and their world. The artifacts in the form of sculptures and carved reliefs often make the impression that they have been made by the inhabitants of a world beyond ours and formed by non-human hands. In Eva Jaroňová’s drawings and prints, all the classical dualities that humankind has defined during its evolution are organically intertwined: the natural versus the artificial, nature versus technology, humans versus other entities inhabiting the Earth, and the male versus the female element. However, in the scenes depicted this division is overcome and there is a symbiosis and close interconnection of all of the above. The scenes are reminiscent of references to fertility rituals, have a strong erotic charge and can be perceived as a sort of 21st century paganism. 24. 3. 2022 –29. 5. 2022 Thu–Sun 12–6 PM T ales from the Dark Fo rest Gabriela P alij ov á, A nna Slama & Marek Delong curated by Veronika Čechová Štěpán Brož’s paintings show a fascination with the Middle Ages which inspire his selection of naturally romantic motifs of pilgrims moving through idyllic landscapes, players with period musical instruments, settings and interactions reminiscent of history lessons and popular heroic fantasy literature. However, a closer look reveals the presence of elements of contemporary civilization that leave the viewer wondering in what period (real or fictional? past or future?) and in what world the story is set, and what it is telling us about our history and our future course. In addition to her architectural work, Tereza Melková makes embroidery on utility and decorative fabrics – often leftovers and used materials. Her motifs are reminiscent of medieval woodcuts and illustrations of ancient stories in which people bearing the attributes of the Christian religion – religious orders, monks and nuns – often appear side by side with the biggest “scarecrows” of the same iconography – devils, devilish goblins or other monsters. Another thematic line is represented by figures on the borderline between human corporeality and other natural forms. Resulting are anthropomorphic plant and animal beings symbolizing the interconnectedness of the human species with other living co-inhabitants of a shared environment. The interconnectedness of humans with nature is also the subject of Gabriela Palijová’s video entitled And What If. This short film evokes a wide range of genres, from Asian epic wu-sia films, through intimate dream narratives to music-dance video clips. The artist’s voiceover charts out a new order of things, in which the lives of trees and humans are intrinsically intertwined, and one can give rise to the other producing new moral imperatives and shared responsibilities.

Veronika Čechová