Purgatory

Destruction and desperation followed by purgatory and redemption. This is the element that connects the works presented at the Purgatory exhibition. In Julie Kopová’s conception, these elements are closely tied to philosophy and the rhythm of music, while Anna Jožová reflects upon the environmental crisis in which humanity, as a global entity, currently finds itself.

“In both artistic representations, we go down into the depths, to the bottom of the ocean, to the core of the Earth, to the human subconscious, where, deep down, a new, as yet undiscovered source of light might be found,” exhibition curator Jan Dotřel explains.

The Kvalitář gallery first exhibited the work of Julie Kopová last year as part of the Tectonic Heat exhibition. Her work is marked by gestural brushstrokes with a great degree of rhythmisation that gives her paintings a strongly expressive character. Kopová’s most recent series is also the one most focused on vertically composed paintings whose ideological direction aims downwards, leading the viewer’s attention to the dark regions of their soul; the regions awaiting catharsis. A central theme in Anna Jožová’s work is climate change and the manner in which we relate to the environment. Her sculptural work is based on the representation of life that has perished due to the effects of the current ecological crisis. The dead casings, however, survive as witnesses, and new life grows on their sediments.

Julie Kopová is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where she studied at the studios of Jiří Sopko, Robert Šalanda, and Vladimír Skrepl. She is currently studying philosophy at Charles University and also finds inspiration in music and poetry. Anna Jožová graduated this year from the glass studio led by Rony Plesl at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague. Her work mostly explores experimental techniques in glass and porcelain, with combinations of diverse, seemingly disparate materials coming together to create new and unique objects.