By painting landscapes, the renaming of which were politically motivated, I am assuring myself that we can move neither mountains, nor history.
Significant mountains always had their symbolic place in the course of human history in many cultures. Regardless of whether it was Olympus, Ararat or Mount Fuji. In modern history the names of the mountains sometimes happened to be ideological symbols, changing their names according to a political situation. In recent decades, the great wave of changes was not only made to socialist symbols of the Soviet Union, but also to many mountains named by white man in the United States and in other parts of the world. Just as monuments are changed in public squares and the hustle around them continues according to its daily routine, these monumental witnesses of natural history, whose age is calculated in a scale absolutely incomparable to the human one, continue to live their geological life. The symbolic domination of naming them means less than a wink of the eye to them. This comparison in some ways points to the romantic tradition of the terrifying grandeur associated with humans confronting these greats. There has always been an attempt by people, of various positions of power and various ideologies, to usurp these symbols for themselves. The way of thinking associated with the "commanding wind and rain" is revealed as totally frivolous in the comparison above.
My unfinished series of paintings deals with just these peaks that have had their names changed during the recent history, yet they still stand unchanged in place, utterly uninterested in human whims. Seemingly very realistic paintings reveal my interest in the issue of brushwork on closer inspection. A motive of greenscreen plays an important role in these compositions, whose presence should reveal that illusory ideological haze which is associated with such greats together with their names. The mountains themselves are indifferent towards it. But just like their very existence is untouched by the renaming, they remain its negative witnesses and comments, which are not so easily removable. This uniform color space simultaneously unites the whole series of paintings in one installation unit.
So far, I have finished three paintings. It should be an installation of about five to eight canvases, which will form a series united not only by its concept, but also by its compositional and color scheme. This "gallery" should be kind of a deideologized portrait gallery of natural giants. Kind of negative political criticism, where a mere painting remains instead of again spoken ideological critical gesture.
Český štít / Czech Peak, acrylic, oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm, 2012
Stalinův štít / Stalin's Peak, acrylic, oil on canvas, 140 x 180cm
Mount Tahoma, acrylic, oil on canvas, 100 x 150cm, 2015