Festive opening of the exhibition of Ivan Pinkava: ABLAZE IN THE SUN

Photographer Ivan Pinkava (1961) has created his own unique visual language during his forty years of artistic practice, which can be identified with a unique way of thinking about the world. Figures and still lifes intertwine in the author's work, they are an updated reflection of deeper thought processes linked to the symbolic language of traditional Western culture. The photographer purposefully enters well-known iconographic situations in order to - in some cases slightly, in other cases radically - change them, mix them up, rename them, empty them, shoot them or make them stand out in a different light. Pinkava blurs the conventional meanings hidden behind the names of ancient and biblical figures, as well as terms denoting common life rituals and actions (e.g. Bridegroom). Behind the backdrops of history and personal history, he finds something common, valid for the present and the future - foreshadowing of human uncertainty stemming from one's own bodily transience and from the awareness that there is something that transcends man in every way, be it God or a less abstract "moral principle ". The main center of events here is the cyclically recurring relationship between man and his destiny, expressed through the expressive means of black-and-white and color photography.

The ABLAZE IN THE SUN exhibition brings the viewer closer to a cross-section of Ivan Pinkava's multi-layered photographic work. As a rule, naked figures with their gestures and attributes are transformed into bearers of a meta-message (The Pilgrim) through visual staging and symbolic action. This refers to the recurring uncertain situation of man in the order of life defined by time and space. The hiddenness and nakedness of the body, as well as the traces of its masking, wear, injuries, impurities, etc., that it bears, refer to the transience of what we call presence or being in the world. Here, time is materialized into subject constellations that undergo permanent transformation. The relentless movement of consciousness is stopped here and viewed as a kind of contemplation. The dynamic event is transformed into a static object radiating, in the manner of a ritual idol, the uniqueness of the moment, to which it is good to return.

The title of the exhibition ABLAZE IN THE SUN reveals the contradiction in the givens of our existence. Light and heat are life-giving principles. However, most of Ivan Pinkava's photographs are situated in the constricting space of gloom and darkness. To inhospitable places that lose their hospitality to human consciousness, which is constantly trying to justify its own meaning. The human body, consciousness and time are consumed to leave traces and reveal their secrets. Beyond the horizon of life awaits - perhaps - insight. To live is to burn. Strongly at first, then more sparingly and sparingly, until the final extinction.

Petr Vaňous, curator of the exhibition

Ivan Pinkava (born 1961). In 1977-1981, he graduated from the Secondary School of Graphics in Prague, majoring in polygraphy, and in 1982-1986 he graduated from FAMU in Prague, majoring in photography. In 1994, he published his first book monograph, Dynasty. Other important books include Memento mori from 1998 (joint project with Václav Jirásek and Robert V. Novák). In 2002, he was included in the German encyclopedia of world photographers Das Lexikon der Fotografen 1900 bis heute. In 2004, the Prague Rudolfinum Gallery organized the author's extensive solo exhibition, which was accompanied by the publication of the Heroes monograph. In 2005-07 he led the photography studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In 2012, the Museum at the Katzen Arts Center at the University of Washington organized the author's solo exhibition entitled Remains, which was accompanied by the publication of a balance monograph of the same name. He regularly exhibits here and abroad. Among the author's latest projects are the exhibition Backtracking (The House of Art, České Budějovice), Double Bind (Telegraf Gallery, Olomouc), Rozvrat shadow (with O. Filípek; Kvalitář Gallery, Prague), Full Moon in the Eyes (Trafo Gallery, Prague ) or participation in the collective project All the Power of Imagination (Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden). In addition to the National Gallery in Prague, his works are included in a number of Czech and foreign public and private collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, the Maison Européene de la Photographie in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, etc.

www.ivanpinkava.com