The works selected for the exhibition by Czech artist Jakub Janovský feature chairs. This object – which at first glance appears simple and ordinary – gradually transforms into something else over the course of the exhibition, and this transformation is best understood through the lens of the post-socialist period. In his slightly unsettling still lifes, these everyday chairs appear as remnants of a bygone world, standing alone without their users. Having almost lost their function, they lie around like props, as if waiting for someone to finally put them to use. Their forms may be familiar from school classrooms, hallways, or even university seminar rooms: their similarity to one another can also be interpreted as a critique of frontal, non-individualized education.
In certain paintings, various constructions are built from these chairs – we can only guess whether what emerges from them is a sculpture, a monument, or simply some kind of strange platform. Here, the artist has also begun to take an interest in the anthropomorphization of objects: the old chairs interact with one another as if they were human bodies, evoking the monumental human pyramids seen at mass gatherings and sporting events in former socialist countries. However, the chair structures do not reflect the collectivism and seemingly stable atmosphere of these festive spectacles; rather, they suggest a sense of uncertainty and fragility. This is underscored by the fact that Janovský often depicts them in a damaged state: with broken chair legs, peeling wood, or tilted and toppled over, they create an increasingly disturbing effect.
All of this is emphasized by the artist’s palette of brownish, gray, and off-white tones, from which only occasional flashes of more vivid red, blue, or yellow appear. Janovský’s paintings embody both the contemporary Western European figurative painting aesthetis – as represented by Luc Tuymans, along with its existentialist worldview – and the style of Eastern European movements, such as the small-town lethargy of the Cluj School. At the same time, his works create a unique visual world that serves as a memorial to the forgotten everyday life of the former Eastern Bloc countries.