The art of Ivan Vosecký tends to defy any straightforward reading and interpretation, probably because, in its own peculiar way, it exposes the ambiguities and contradictions of the art world and the broader world we live in. Although the artist’s works may come across at first blush as overly blunt, elemental or provocative, they almost always delve into fundamental questions about our existence.
This exhibition, laconically entitled Truth, is devoted entirely to the artist’s textual works. White Cube visitors will see Work More Slave (2007), an older Vosecký piece from the Hradec Králové gallery’s collection, and the completely new Fear of Death is a Source of Power, created by interacting with Jaroslav Panuška’s 1923 drawing Hašek on His Deathbed, which Vosecký selected from the GMU vaults.
The artist gives the audience complete freedom of movement and perception within this space, and leaves the layering of meanings and their interpretation entirely up to the viewer. An important role in this process is played by the way in which the individual messages have been rendered materially and aesthetically to convey the general feel and mood of the installation and to guide the viewer’s imagination.
These works are complemented by the artist’s installation Truth is Faith, Faith is Truth… in the windows of the Hotel Černigov in Hradec Králové. Here, Vosecký engages with the history and context of the setting in which he has placed the work. He also probes the possibilities and limits of topical debates on freedom of speech and other pressing issues of our time.
IVAN VOSECKÝ (born in Hradec Králové 1963) studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague. After graduating from there, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Having studied in four different studios at the Academy (including those of Milan Knížák and Miloš Šejn), he graduated from Vladimír Skrepl’s painting studio. He has had solo exhibitions at the National Gallery’s Trade Fair Palace (Die Kunst ist unsere Leben, 2020); at the Brno House of Arts: Deconstruction of Guernica (Dekonstrukce Guernicy, 2009); and at Divus Unit in London: Go into Yourself (2008). Group exhibitions include Reduced Budget (Snížený rozpočet, Mánes, 1998), Islands of Resistance (Ostrovy odporu, National Gallery Prague, 2012), Confrontation (Konfrontace, Czech Centre in London, 2000), and Enraged Planet (Rozhněvaná planeta, NTK Gallery Prague, 2017). His current interests are painting, music and architecture. He is the head of the Institute of Art Design at the Czech Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture in Prague. His work can be found in the Klatovy / Klenová Gallery, the Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb, the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové, and in private collections in the Czech Republic and abroad. Most of his works are in the Richard Adam collection (30 paintings and objects).
The exhibition was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Statutory City of Hradec Králové.
