7. 3. – 4. 4. 2024
Open Studio: 26. 3. 2024
Residency outcome: 4. 4. 2024
Curator and author of the text: Vladimír Merta
For his residency at Pragovka Gallery in the spring of 2024, Matěj Boček was choosing from several themes which currently form the source of his visual language. After reducing a rather broad spectrum and considering the nature of his residency, he was finally deciding between two themes essential for him. The first of a universal nature, the second responding to his temporary stay in Prague, site-specific work.
In the end, his choice leaned towards the theme of universal content, if only because of the limited time of the residency. Especially as the author was offered the opportunity to use his long-elaborated materials and documents which required final processing.
Matěj Boček studied Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology (BUT) and lives and works in Moravia. This would be an introduction to his biography but, in fact, the contemporary art scene is wide open, both in terms of freedom of media choice and in the possibilities of drawing authentic experiences outside the home environment, for example, during residencies available today without almost any limit. For Matěj Boček, moving in such an open space is a matter of course and it seems that he intends to enjoy it even in the future.
Environmental stress is now all-encompassing, permeating all areas of civilization, including the arts. Coping with this paradigm can be identified in the “Spring, Summer, Autumn, the End” project at first glance without, however, being drawn into the activist sphere of tendentiousness. Matěj Boček approaches his subject in an experimental manner, learning to master new technological tools from the perspective of a painter, and first and foremost, he is curious. What role curiosity generally plays in any creative, imaginative activity is rather obvious.
The title of the work already reflects his inclination towards the apocalyptic lyricism, which is so characteristic of fairy-tale storytelling, and the reference to Romanticism. The form of the work, its dynamics, rhythm, visual motifs, all somehow held in time, corresponds to this. What is not here is authorial distance, which is a good thing in this case.
The output of Matěj Boček’s residency is of an intermedial character, including painterly imagery being moved throughout time, his audio track, corrected by the performative participation of the author, at least in the case of a live presentation, and it is easily accessible as an animated work in the environment of the Internet. Personally, as a viewer, I perceive this work should be optimally presented live, in a gallery, with the performative participation of the author.
