Patrik Kriššák: PATH
13.1. – 4. 2. 2016
opening: 12. 1. 2016
curator: Lucie Šmardová
“The Path” can be a journey, a setting for fantasies, combinational contemplations, a track delineating invisible points, or a trail leading to another possible path rather than to discovery. “Path” as a figure inviting to communicate.
At the same time “The Path” is also one of the last exhibitions that will take place in the space of Gallery Jelení in Prague’s Smichov quarter before moving to its new location. One of the possibilities of laying out this project was to react to this reality either by a direct reference or by a gesture. Instead of looking back, a classical version proved to be more stimulating, although Patrik Kriššák has actually the least amount of experience with this type of a path. Last year he placed several of his paintings into large cocoons hanging from the ceiling. These cocoons became a metaphor for a time limited developmental stage of his incipient work. Due to their large size the paintings became objects that architectonically defined the space. Following his exhibitions with distinct installation arrangement, where Patrik explored the boundaries of painting and treated his paintings or their hanging in an experimental way, the current exhibition is the first purely painting exhibition where he displays his most recent work. He has retained a common denominator with respect to the question of the painting frame, which is what Brian O’Doherty calls the “psychological container”, but this frame is further expanded by the gallery exhibition space.
The series of exhibited paintings originated using a technique that Patrik Kriššák has been developing for three years. He creates the so-called “bottle paintings” on a horizontal plane by turning over a bottle with paint on a paper foundation in a fast, almost performance-like gestic manner. Practically all of his newest paintings are done on stretched white paper or canvas. Patrik sticks to the material purity both on smaller as well as larger size paintings; a pair of smaller formats located on the floor refers to their origin. The strokes are a reaction to the paint being used, which is clean, pastel, with perhaps more colours blending in directly on the painting. Long lines with clear motives are alternated with short strokes symbolically depicting letters of the alphabet or some words of an undiscovered, secret language. Lightness, speed and the associated energy originating from these movements represent the values that make Patrik’s paintings original and distinguishable at first sight.
Lucie Šmardová
Jeleni Gallery exhibition program is possible through kind support of Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and Prague City Council
Media support: Artycok.tv, ArtMap and jlbjlt.net
