While preparing this exhibition, a situational joke emerged: if you go through a closet, you’re bound to forget something. It might be why you were in the studio, the scissors or nails – or even what your age is or what season it is outside the windows.
The installation by three artists at Galerie U Dobrého pastýře can only be experienced through a narrative that dissolves linearity and conventional chronology. Like a fairytale journey through a wardrobe, where we cross the threshold over fennel flowers, the boundaries of time blur magically. We find ourselves in a romantic garden with an apple tree, a walnut tree, roosters, a cat, and a smoldering fire at its edge – where it is both spring and autumn at once. The wind rustles the ribbons on the apple tree, yet we see them frozen in a fraction of a second as if we’ve paused a movie for just a moment. In the next scene, time halts as the rooster spreads his wings and stretches his neck.
The dominant works in the first room of the gallery are the textile paintings Garden and Rooster by Eva Brodská, an artist who has been hand-weaving tapestries since the 1960s. Her artistic language, reminiscent of watercolor paintings—which also serve as her sketches—captures fleeting moments like moving clouds, wind, fire, light, or the flight of birds, abstracting them into a minimalist morphology with a distinctive lyricism. This lyricism acts as a subtle common thread connecting the creative approaches of all three exhibiting artists. Their original texts guide us asynchronously through the natural cycle of the four seasons, and their works, characterized by their recognizable styles and media, intertwine to form a cohesive whole.
Each plant in Lucie Králíková's objects carries its own significance, connected to themes of friendship, magical protection, or healing. Her work merges an expert knowledge of plants with a deep fascination for folk customs and ceremonies. The apple tree's fruit in her pieces symbolizes the sun, the flow of time, the cycle of life,
and immortality, while the object crafted from dry branches and flowers in the second room of the gallery comes from Eva's garden. This part of the installation represents the hearth, evoking the hot August summer. Through her watercolors, we also sense the sequences of fire burning, smoldering, and cooling. It is a space that invites future small, affirmative rituals – burning fragrant herbs and woods that will slowly fade from the exhibition over time.
Around this symbolic fireplace, we transition into the third part of the installation, a descent into the realm of dreams. This space may evoke the interior of an old house or castle, inhabited by ghosts or fantastically personified plants and animals. At the entrance stand a pair of guardians—wooden figures adorned with peas and citrus fruits – imbued with magical powers to foster loyalty and nurture friendships. Tall mullein plants in shoes, stand watch, offering protection against the common cold. Inside this dreamlike house, everything grows larger and more ambiguous. Mugwort tucked into linen becomes both a big baby and a little old lady, while the fireplace, spouting a cold fire of mint and rosemary, transforms into both lion and devil. It's January, and we bid farewell to a sturdy cow; it is not easy to give her giant white bones back to the hardened soil.
The hallmark of Dana Balážová's work lies in her distinctive sensibility and innovative symbolic interpretation of traditional artistic genres and motifs, inspired by nature, the non-ordinary aspects of daily life, and her own intuition. Her video within the installation subtly draws attention without overwhelming the viewer. It captures the fleeting experience of encounters with other people, animals, and plants, serving as a mirror to our own selves. This work is a portrait of a therapeutic garden, a healing journey, and a record of a rite of passage. It delves into themes of new spirituality and dream symbolism, blending traditional and contemporary forms of folk healing.
Through an eclectic mix, it connects ancient paganism with modern religious teachings, creating a rich tapestry of meaning.
If we view the installation at Galerie U Dobrého pastýře (Good Sheppard Gallery) as a lyrical, sequential model of the cyclical passage of time, then Petr Švolba's subsequent installation in the gallery courtyard offers a practical extension of that concept. At the center of this gathering will be a functional oven with live fire, baking bread or infusing the air with the scent of sanctified herbs. Petr Švolba’s work primarily explores the identity of place, the relationship between nature and civilization, as well as the intersection of utility, spirituality, and symbolism. His creations naturally balance the boundary between traditional sculpture, installation, and architecture. The outdoor kiln he has crafted is adorned with the figure of St. Florian, the patron saint of firefighters, chimney sweepers, potters, and bakers—a protector against fires and floods. Traditionally depicted with a water container, St. Florian was a popular subject for niche sculptures on rural homesteads. St Florian is thus linked through the sculpture of a sheep to the Good Shepherd in the niche of the entrance portal of the gallery building.
The installation Erase the Boundaries of Time is a captivating exploration of eclectic symbolism and the revitalization of traditional techniques and practices. Eva Brodská's lyrical abstraction, Lucie Králíková's allusions to folk customs, Dana Balážová's attention to both detail and the larger composition, along with Petr Švolba's profound connection to the landscape, all converge to speak a unified language. We hope you’ll join us by the fire and look forward to your company.
We want to express our gratitude to Max Lysáček for his invaluable help in sculpting the lion, and to Adam Hejduk and Daniel Nováček for their tireless creativity and support.
