The exhibition THE THEORY OF MATTER (Vachek) is organized by Školská 28 gallery with the help of students and colleagues of doc. Karel Vachek -- film director, painter, poet and head of the documentary department at the Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The exhibition presents a selection of paintings, watercolors, posters and photographs from 1966-1979 and the 90s by Karel Vachek, his wife Dagmar, son Karel, siblings Petr and Ludmila and late brother-in-law Otakar Urbánek. The works constitute a polemic physical discourse about the theory of matter.
The exhibition is staged in connection to Vachek's recently released book Teoria Hmoty -- o vnitřním smíchu, rozdvojení mysli a středovém osudu (The Theory of Matter – on the inner laugh, the division of the mind, and the mid-point of fate), published by Hermann and Sons. In the book, Vachek sums up his life philosophy and the methods of his creative work. The exhibition presents a lesser-known side of Karel Vachek: his paintings, as well as the work of his family members. In his films,Vachek uses the poetry of assemblage, collage, and a surprising bringing together of disparate events, objects and characters, as a working method for his sociological and philosophical works about Czech culture.
This counterpoint is also present in his visual works, consisting of collages, airy watercolors and in the large painting created with Dagmar Urbánková. The oil paintings of Petr Vachek occupy a gray area between abstract form and figurative representation. In addition, a certain decorative aspect occurs where scenes comes out from the painting's surface. Ludmila Vachková Drhová is the creator of gentle luminous and colorful compositions of resembling organic fibers. The abstract photographic work of Karel Vachek, Jr., shifts the exhibition to a decidedly dreamlike sensibility.
The exhibition Theory of Matter (Vachek) is held on the occasion of a jubilee celebration of the life and work of Karel Vachek. Hopefully, it will also serve as an unexpected asset to the fragmentary topology of Czech visual art of recent decades.
During the exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to take in, for the first time, an overview of the extensive documentary film work of Karel Vachek, which will be presented on computers. The visitors can also attend a program in conjunction with the exhibition: two Thursday events on February 10 and 24. Mr. Vachek will invite the figures appearing in his movie frescos to the occasion, where he will also introduce his poetry. You can take part of the evening via the internet at ez.radiojeleni.cz/live.
Exhibition organized in collaboration with the Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Negativ, s.r.o., and Krátký film Praha a.s.
