"I could not live without colours."
In the early 1960s, minimalism prompted new reflections on relationships within space by altering the conception and hanging of artworks, creating pieces that descend from the ceiling, emerge from the walls, on which one can walk... Czech artist Jan Kaláb takes inspiration from this movement in his approach to working with gallery space, inviting the viewer to contemplate the artworks from various perspectives, to move among them rather than simply from one to the next. His recent work, which explores the boundary between painting and sculpture, the interplay of solids and voids in an illusionary game that surprises the viewer, can be experienced from June 27 to July 26, 2024, at Danysz Gallery. The solo exhibition, “Dance of the Void” spans three floors and will feature paintings and installations.
Jan Kaláb is a Czech artist born in Prague in 1978. A pioneer of graffiti in his country in the 1990s, he now creates forms rife with illusions and spaces that surpass traditional boundaries between media, instead playing on viewers’ perceptions. Impossible to confine to a single medium, his practice spans from painting to sculpture, from installations to new media. After years of graffiti writing, Kaláb continues his exploration of forms, abstraction, and colors, the defining elements of graffiti during his adolescence.
His recent work is based on a visually arresting confluence between geometric abstraction and color gradients. Indeed, the artist creates shaped canvases for which he constructs his own non-rectangular frames. As the designer of the works from A to Z, including the work on lighting that reveals or conceals the secrets of creation, Jan Kaláb aims to engage the visitor with his strangely shaped canvases, whose volumetric qualities cause them to emerge from the walls. The exhibition also features a large installation on the ground floor of the gallery where he suspends his mobiles with organic shapes at various heights to create proximity with the viewers who move among them, generating an organic environment that breaks away from the rectilinear space of the art gallery.
From Venice, where he presented a small installation for the Biennale's inauguration, to the Urban Art Fair in Paris, where he showcased a monumental sculpture opposite the Carreau du Temple, Jan Kaláb stands as an artist in constant evolution. His dynamic approach extends beyond his vibrant color palette to encompass his ever-changing relationship with space. By utilizing all three floors of Danysz Gallery, he skillfully navigates the space to present his evolving works, offering viewers a captivating sensory experience.
