Vladimír Houdek’s exhibition in the Atrium of the Pražák Palace reflects a curatorial intention to once again showcase a young artist whose work is firmly rooted in the medium of painting. Vladimír Houdek (b. 1984), although still a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (in Vladimír Skrepl’s studio, with an internship under Jan Merta), has already participated in several group and solo exhibitions. Last year, he was awarded the Critics’ Prize for Young Painting, followed by a solo exhibition “Dokola a do ticha” (Critics’ Gallery, Adria Palace, Prague). He is currently presenting his latest series of abstract works, “Anagrams”, at the “Magion” exhibition in the Blansko City Gallery.

The exhibition “Melancholy” offers, for the first time, a comprehensive display of the artist’s latest cycle of large-scale canvases, created over the past year. The series draws its title and initial inspiration from Norwegian writer Jon Fosse’s two-part novel, “Melancholy I” and “Melancholy II”.

The unifying motif across Houdek’s paintings is the portrayal of solitary figures set within seemingly impenetrable, metaphysical spaces. At first glance, the works are marked by a striking contrast: an expressive surface that recalls various traditions of abstract painting, juxtaposed with the unpredictable gestures of figures that act as guides through an ambiguous narrative, lending the compositions an element of irrationality.

Petr Ingerle
curator of the Moravian Gallery in Brno
2011