Mia Milgrom / Mining the Undersense

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

Mia Milgrom / Mining the Undersense

24.05.2023 - 29.07.2023

Fait Gallery PREVIEW, Ve Vaňkovce 2, Brno

Curator: Pavla Sceranková

Opening: 24th May, 7 pm

ELLIPSE the first sign of pressure on a ring and the defence of deformations.^{^[1^]}

Iron is formed inside stars as the last element that can originate in this way. Its presence in the nucleus of a star will eventually cause a gravitational collapse and a supernova explosion, which will scatter it and the other elements into space. It is the same iron that then becomes part of the organometallic compound of haemoglobin, which plays a key part in the transport of oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and is therefore essential for breathing.^{^[2]} Despite the immense distance between a supernova explosion and respiration, they are partly conditioned by the same element. The complex interconnectedness of the events around us can cause anxiety and amazement at the same time. Mia Milgrom reflectson it intuitively and as if unconsciously through her passion for the material.

The starting point of the exhibition was an interest in "the language of tension that arises in disturbed situations"^{^[3]} Mia observes these from the perspective of a geologist who can glimpse into "the system, the support structure that maintains the local equilibrium... layers of organic deposits alternate with human footprints and objects that accumulate and gradually decompose, seeping down into deeper layers and contaminating the soil".^{^[4]}

The exhibition consists of minimalist situations that are spatial metaphors for the support structure just before the fall, equilibrium maintained by a defective component. Although they are all predominantly made of iron, it is the details of the joints that draw attention to themselves. At first glance, the embedded wooden or ceramic parts are an illogical weakening of the structure. The unsustainability of the systems we live in is another thing Mia is thinking about. The whole, however, is not weakened by the material of the joints; it only starts to fall apart when we want to organise it, explain it, control it. "By creating nonsensical moments, we may approach narratives that offer non-linear recourses.“^{^[5]}

It takes calmness and inner peace to perceive the potential of the non-linear recourses that promise relief. We spin in circles. We sense a way out of exhaustion, but we are too tired to reach for it. Mia lends us a hand in the form of a bump that disrupts the expected trajectory of movement. A sculpture is a thing that acts. The action is initiated by its physical presence; the action itself happens elsewhere. I am drawn into the exhibition space by a steel shape wedged between the ceiling and the floor. It raises an unspoken question. Is it an ellipse that fits precisely in the gap between the ceiling and the floor, or is it a circle deformed by the pressure of the ceiling? I am aware of the question, but the answer is irrelevant. Thoughts are distracted by viewing the embedded segments. I stick with them.

The distorted trajectory of an ellipse reminds me of a combination of words from the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed: to be more.^{^[6]} It stands as a call for emancipation, an opposition to the imperative: you are less. Words derived from Freire's complex analysis appear a bit awkward in this way. I ask how to be more; how to want less; how to want less so that I can be more? I return to the embedded segments. My thoughts get blurred, as if their presence was an obstacle. I get used to the feeling and start to enjoy it. I think of Jane Bennett. In her essay The Force of Things, she writes: "Perhaps the very idea of the force of things and living matter asks too much of us: to know more than it is possible to know."^{^[7]} In an essay that discusses, among other things, the similarities between Adorno's non-identity and the force of things, between "concrete materialism" and vital materialism, she mentions in a footnote Roman Coles's interpretation of Adorno's concept of non-identity. As Roman Coles writes of Adorno, "objects are not captured by concepts completely, and thus life will always defy our knowledge and control. The negative dialectic is a 'morality of thought' that nurtures generosity towards others and towards non-identity in the self.“^{^[8]}

To want less, to be more, to find a way to alleviate the suffering caused by trying to control all things.

^{^[1]} PADRTA, Jiří. Pracovat v souladu s kosmem a živly. In: KUJELOVÁ, Denisa, ed. Karel Malich & utopické projekty / Karel Malich & Utopian Projects. Brno: Fait Gallery, 2021, p. 23. ISBN 978-80-908446-0-5.

^{^[2]} Železo. In: Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia [online]. San Francisco (CA): Wikimedia Foundation, 2001- [cit. 2023-04-25]. Accessed from: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDelezo#

^{^[3]} Mia Milgrom, exhibition concept.

^{^[4]} Ibidem.

^{^[5]} Ibidem.

^{^[6]} FREIRE, Paulo. Pedagogika utlačovaných. Prague: Neklid, 2022. ISBN 978-80-908247-9-9.

^{^[7]} BENNET, Jane, Síla věcí, p. 122. In: JANOŠČÍK, Václav, LIKAVČAN, Lukáš and Jiří RŮŽIČKA, ed. Mysl v terénu: filosofický realismus v 21. století. Prague: Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze, Displey, 2017. ISBN 978-80-87108-72-7.

^{^[8]} BENNET, Jane, Síla věcí, p. 123. In: JANOŠČÍK, Václav, LIKAVČAN, Lukáš and Jiří RŮŽIČKA, ed. Mysl v terénu: filosofický realismus v 21. století. Prague: Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze, Displey, 2017. ISBN 978-80-87108-72-7.

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