Petr Kvíčala: Sight-Specific

22 Apr – 20 Jun 2011

The exhibition of Petr Kvíčala at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art will have two parts: a selection of his painting cycles from past two years and his Zig Zag Corridor painting on the walls of the ramp between the exhibition space and the café.

The essence of Petr Kvíčala’s paintings is an abstract linear ornament, the logic of its development and an investigation of the optical effects produced by such paintings. The first part of the exhibition shown in the tower presents a choice of author´s paintings. In contrast with his earlier work, where the artist emphasised a subjective style, these new paintings are shaped by the use of overlapping bands. They are more precise, and resemble digital works with their clearly defined blocks with sharp edges. The surface of
a painting evokes modern architecture or computer graphics guided by an algorithm expressible in mathematics. For the most part the viewer cannot detect the specific ordering principle, but is aware of its presence in the visual effect of these composition.

The second part of the exhibition is an artwork demonstrating the “sight-specific” properties of Kvíčala’s works for architecture. Zig Zag Corridor is based on a series of paintings that Kvíčala has produced since 2003. The essence is an extended line that turns at right angles. We can read the painting produced by this line in two ways. Looking at it straight on, we see the line twisting at right angles; looking at it from the side the line blends into the surface from a particular angle and creates vertical zigzagging “roads”. This Kvíčala’s latest work, has been produced for a 22-metre long corridor with a sloping floor. The painting not only modifies the character of the architecture, but it dynamically changes depending on the viewer’s position and motion. Kvíčala uses a line 10 centimetres wide; the module for the zigzag line measures 100 centimetres and around 10 litres of Primalex were used to make the painting. Perceptive viewers will see how the paintings on opposite walls differ from one another. ech liší. Kurátorem výstavy je Tomáš Pospiszyl.