Vojtěch Kovařík

I make heroes on a supra-human scale because they are powerful heroes and gods. The people who lived for the gods died with them. I have respect for heroes and gods and in my work, and try to reflect on and give life to old heroes who transform into new forms. The fact they are often just cutouts or cramped bodies around the perimeter of the frame reinforces my belief that this gives them more emotions and depth, immortality, and fragility, or even coarseness and softness. – Vojtěch Kovařík

For Czech artist, Vojtěch Kovařík, iconography, and mythology are fundamental to his work. His large-format, forceful, and vividly colored compositions result in impactful paintings that evoke the strength of sculpture. His herculean figures are contorted, seemingly defeated by the frame of the canvas, flaunting their blue, green, and yellow flesh amongst vegetal backgrounds. Kovařík was first trained in ceramics and sculpture and started painting later as an autodidact. This self-taught formation led him to mix oil, acrylic, and spray paint suggesting relief in a plane surface.

Figures from Greek mythology, as well as pop culture references, appear in Kovařík’s paintings, fully embracing figuration. His interest in Greek mythology comes from its importance in the European cultural collective unconscious but subverts its meaning by reconstructing its most prominent characters. The Hesperides (Nymphs of the Night) become rotund men, and Artemis far from her frail archer archetype morphs into an imposing death figure. Conversely, many stereotypically hyper-masculine characters display postures evoking fragility and introspection. Their faces are often blurred (Hakuho, David, Knock-out) or presented as masks (Hermes, Iron Mike, Gladiator), showing their difficulty to claim a firm identity. Goliath is depicted in pink while Prometheus strikes a sensual pose.

Kovařík’s tone sways ambiguously between violence and weakness. His giant figures appear to be flaunting their masculinity, but simultaneously become caricatures of themselves and objects of our curiosity. His purposeful exaggeration of human anatomy creates a sense of honesty and naïveté, questioning the traditional notion of physical strength and power.

Vojtěch Kovařík (b. 1993, Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic) lives and works in Brno.

Recent solo exhibitions include From Lines to Matter, Kampa Museum, Prague (2024); Under the weight of the world, Power Station, Dallas (2024) The Labours of Hercules, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2023); Dusk of the Gods, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2022); Destinies of Stone Faces, Galerie Derouillon, Paris (2022); In the Thickets of Unexplored Places, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2021); Mendes Wood DM at Villa Era, Vigliano Biellese (2020); Hidden Garden, Galerie Derouillon, Paris (2020).Recent group exhibitions include Ars22: Living Encounters, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (2022) and Baltic Triennial 14: The Endless Frontier, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2021).

The artist’s work is present in museums and public collections worldwide, including National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria; Zuzeum Museum, Riga; X Museum, Beijing; ICA Miami, Miami; Blenheim Foundation, Oxfordshire; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; THE EKARD COLLECTION, the Netherlands; Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach; Lafayette Collection, Paris.