Tropical Winter

Tropical winter is an oxymoron (an antilogy, from the Greek oxus „sharp“ + moros „stupid“). A predilection for joining contradictions can be seen also in the titles of previous exhibitions of Anežka Hošková and in a certain sense it can be understood as a method of creation which is determinative for her. One could say this is true in any work of art. As soon as in the classic aesthetics the deepest sense of art is seen in the ability to create a reasonable complex out of contradictory elements, e.g. in the renaissance perspective.
The prooblem is that not all contradictions can be transferred from one to another and/or synthetized. They can co-exist but better don’t expect them to be in harmony. Art works that are created in this connection will always be upsetting, just like the pulsing of colours on the Kupka’s Amorfa.
Anežka taks still another path, in her pictures and drawings fairytaile castles emerge among flowers and mythic creatures from soft, fluffy forms, thick as semolina pudding – this is what unconsciousness could look like. There is a certain dynamic – but more sensual than real, a possible threat in the form of sharp edges, wash-drawn pigments, claws and fangs. If seems like falling asleep or awakening, half-way between a girl’s bedroom and a strip-tease club in Bronx. It is a stylisation but a thorough one. Thus we can understand it as a policy of its own kind, just like a stylisation of subculture.
This is even more true for the artist’s experiments with collages and installations. In both she uses every day myths as a material which she cuts into pieces and puts together again. With a strong stress to style she takes all these low-class fantasies and junk from the music videos and combines them into impressive still lifes and indie vanitas. Gold, champagne and sexy hotties that obviously don’t want to be courted too long – this is paradise, they say…

Text by Michaela Ivaniškinová