Jasanský/polák/novotný

Lukáš Jasanský /1965, Prague/, Martin Polák /1964, Prague/, Jaromír Novotný /1974, Český Brod/

The exhibition of Lukáš Jasanský, Martin Polák and Jaromír Novotný at the Závodný Gallery in Mikulov is based on the concept of a site-specific installation designed to the architectural space of the gallery.

Renowned photographers and artistic duo Lukáš Jasanský and Martin Polák, invited for collaboration on their project Jaromír Novotný, an artist whose artwork is based on material and sensory nature of the painting.

The exhibition project led to a very minimalist concept. Photographic papers of various formats, which have undergone the technological process of photographic creation by the classical method of analogue photography bearing the traces of developers and fixers, form the backbone of the entire exhibition. The individual sheets reveal the existence of earlier creative processes, which took place in the black chamber of authors.

Papers are authentic bearers of information about the origin of a photographic picture, despite the minimal visual perception. The paper sheets seem almost empty, only a detailed inspection can reveal random spots, a slight bend or a forgotten hair. The diversity of colour structure, the degree of yellowing of photo paper, the difference in glossy or matte surface are the only true distinguishing elements. Yet there is so much in the picture to be seen!

Lukáš Jasanský and Martin Polák observed upfront the interior of the Závodný Gallery and its changes of light exposure in the daily timeline. They worked with a set of "marked" sheets in a similar way to any other of their photo series. The subtle abstract patterns of the individual photopapers create a dialogue with the articulated and at the same time purist space of the gallery.

Jaromír Novotný was intentionally invited to join this exhibition. His very compact work responds to the very being of the surface of the painting, not offering the viewer anything visually concrete. Behind this seeming simplicity, nevertheless, lies a very sophisticated work with the painting area and its division consisting in the light effects, visual game with the outer space, the background wall especially.

Also Jaromír Novotný experiments with photographic material and often uses papers that evoke transparent parchments. His inclination towards black and white colouring evokes the uniqueness of the captured moment, often so well trapped in the black and white photography.

Jaromír Novotný's works are characterized by a powerful sensitivity. For his participation on this project he chose an exceptionally haptic, fragile and vulnerable material – the plaster. His series of small formats loosely laid out on a simple shelf resembles a group of postcards decorated with only a fine, engraved line on the surface of the plaster. The line is filled with coloured pigment, which due to several sanding, is not always visible. The engraving is like a memory print, barely graspable or readable.

Two artistic approaches, visual purity, an open dialogue with the surrounding architecture, playfulness of the formats, harmony and sensitivity referring to the past, the exhibition is a promise of unique, almost meditative experience.