Grotta

The title of this new exhibition of works by painter Jan Poupě (born 1988) refers to the architectural element of the grotto, a decorative artificial cave, often found in Renaissance and Baroque gardens. The interplay of natural and cultural elements – and, by extension, the relationship between the natural and the human – is the principal idea behind the new works created especially for the Grotto exhibition at the Kvalitář Gallery.

During his time on the art scene, Jan Poupě has developed an original artistic language based on the exploration of structures and a search for the limits of perspective, optics, and geometry. As Jan Dotřel wrote in a publication that accompanied last year’s Neuralscape exhibition at the Telegraph Gallery in Olomouc, Poupě’s works “are built on a foundation of observing natural phenomena, handcraft, and a sophisticated overcoming of the traditional limits of painting”. We will now see the artist’s visual language in an entirely new form. The curatorial concept will allow the spectator to perceive visual art in a manner that mirrors the artist’s fascination with architecture and geometry in a looser, less analytical manner. Poupě’s paintings, characterised by their linear perspective, are bent into forms reminiscent of wave motion.

Jan Poupě generally works in two fields of art: oil painting, in which he has developed a unique style, and site-specific installations reflecting his observation of natural processes. It is the oil paintings that will be emphasised at the Grotto exhibition, with three dominant large canvases along with several smaller paintings.

Jan Poupě graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU), where he studied in the Painting I studio with Jiří Sopko. During his studies, he also participated in exchanges at the Intermedia II studio with Jiří Příhoda and the Visiting Artist Studio with Silke Otto-Knapp. He also participated in an international exchange at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he created Inner Space, a painting-installation. In 2014, he received the Critics’ Award for Young Painters, which consolidated his position on the Czech fine art scene. Poupě has a long-standing collaboration with the Kvalitář Gallery, including the exhibitions Endless Edge and Geometria naturalis.