KAMILA ZEMKOVÁ / THE DEAD SPOTS

The first of two overview exhibitions assesses the collecting activities of the Fait Gallery, initiated by Igor Fait and systematically developed since 2012 in synergy with the chief curator Denisa Kujelová, who worked in the gallery until mid-2025.

Given the extensive nature of the collection which comprises over 1,000 items, and considering the multiple artistic approaches and the time span covered by the collection, which ranges from the pre-war avant-garde to contemporary art, it appeared natural to organise two consecutive shows.

In order to maintain a certain homogeneity in the exhibition, it was necessary to find a simple and universal key for selecting the artists and individual works. In most cases, this took the form of an abstract geometric-constructivist tendency which, with a few exceptions, involved pure minimalism, while in other cases it was softer abstraction with connotations of a reality-inspired starting point.

Part of the exhibition is devoted to the presentation of pre-war modernism, making up the core of the collection from the very beginning. It is the cubist tendency, evident in the works of Emil Filla and the more frequently represented Antonín Procházka, that forms a link with the mentioned geometric-abstract tendency which in many cases takes on a mathematical character in the works of artists active in the second half of the 20th century.

In connection with cubism, it is also necessary to mention that the exhibition includes several works related more to contemporary art which can be described as explicitly figurative, mediating a kind of neo-cubism and thus making an exception from the rule within the exhibition concept.

A confrontational aspect is supplied by the younger generation of artists fluidly incorporated into the exhibition. They function as a subtle refreshing and at the same time convey the message that the recycling of basic forms defined in the first half of the 20th century is still relevant, even though the artists' starting points are now quite different.

From the media perspective, the exhibition provides an overview of the segment of the collection that exclusively addresses traditional art forms such as painting, drawing, graphic art, objects, sculpture, assemblage, and various types of collage.

The overall aim of the exhibition is to present the part of the collection relating to the mentioned trends, to define and demonstrate formal and content-unifying elements among artists across the given time scope, and to set them in a mutual context.

Ondřej Kotrč

KAMILA ZEMKOVÁ / THE DEAD SPOTS

03.09.2014 - 10.10.2014

Fait Gallery PREVIEW
Dominican Square 10, Brno
3/9 – 10/10/2014
Opening: 2/9/2014 at 6pm
Curator: Martin Nytra

The Dead Spots

The work of Kamila Zemková is based on significant interdependence of the personality of the author with her artistic expression, that is characterised by its tendency towards the formal stylization of diary entries. Her continuing interest in situations and tasks experienced in daily reality and inconspicious relationships of the close surroundings stands at the same time for searching of areas dominated by ambiguity and banality. These characteristics are no less charming because of their openness and closeness that enable the artist and her audiences a wide spectrum of approaches and understanding of the art work. The author thus creates conditions for work based on personal experience from close listening to the noteless impressions of the surrounding landscape and the acquisition of this experience through awareness of the subjective territory of her perception and her own imagination. Zemková avoids to name things and aims towards specific, easily understandable meanings. She puts greater emphasis on the imagination of the mind and the emotional level of the perception of the art work. Paradoxically, however, her latest work is relatively specific, conceptually coherent and its realistic design might enable the audience to read the shortcuts to the understanding. Neverthless in my oppinion it would be a mistake to see the peculiarity of the models as an indicator of their final status.

The important fact, that the whole set of pictures processes the views into the interior of the close environment where the author lives and works, is a significant truth, which in the showing of the art works in the space of the gallery creates another possible interpretation or consideration level about the nature of the art works as well as the exhibition as a whole. We usually accept the gallery space free from traces of previous exhibitions, which creates a framework for migrant artistic personalities, with no objections. The interior of the gallery, that is temporarily occupied by the artist is also a space that, for limited time, turns the artist into a showpiece revealed to the public eye. The interior is seen as a zone of intimacy and home as an environment of spiritual and emotional qualities. In the case of Kamila Zemková the questions pointing to the nature of the situation of the exhibition might be important. With regard to the conscious dialogue with worlds of internal and external nature and her unusually personal approach, the situation can be understood as a reflection about the relationship of intimacy, which includes the ability of personal experience and imagination to its high public profile and shared features because of which we keep exposing ourselves to this kind of situation.

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