JAN SERYCH: Takemehome
30 May - 28 Jul 2007
Beepbeep, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 110 x 140 cm
Call 776 257 109 at 7:30, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 110 x 140 cm
Telephone Number of a Celebrity, but I Don't Know Which, 2007, 130 x 250 cm
view of the exhibition "Take me Home" at hunt kastner artworks, Prague
Zoom, 2007, acrylic and marker on canvas, 110 x 140 cm (each)
Zoom, 2007, acrylic and marker on canvas, 110 x 140 cm (each)
hunt kastner artworks is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by the Prague based artist Jan Serých. The exhibition, which includes several large scale paintings (Zoom, The Telephone Number of a Celebrity but I Don’t Know Which, Call 776257109 at 7:30, Beepbeep) and one video (Takemehome), further explores the artist’s self-acknowledged favorite theme of “cultural cryptography” in his signature contextual minimalistic style.
Jan Serých's paintings, objects and videos function as conceptual trompe-l’oeil. He has created a formal abstract language derived from geometric tendencies in painting and typography presenting characters depleted of their original significance. In Serych’s work, nothing is assumed and everything is open to question - symmetrical geometric or typographic shapes are exposed as multi-purpose covers meant for recycling and obsessional observations. Serých both simulates and mocks accepted rules and aesthetics, creating his own system - one where multiple meanings are possible and, where at the same time, sometimes nothing much at all is conveyed.
“Although the exhibition Takemehome consists almost entirely of paintings, it can seem in its visual conciseness to be a manifestation of a new iconoclasm. However, it is primarily a reflection of my current obsession with codes and secret messages, their inherent value and conditionality. What is hidden behind the wall of these codes is in fact very simple and accessible information. However, ease of acquisition is not, of course, directly proportional to a thing's value in our eyes and obstacles often act paradoxically as aphrodisiacs - be they the awkwardness of dialing an unfamiliar number at 7:30 in the morning as prompted by one of the "painted" instructions, a young camper's Czech-English translation using Morse code, the hidden identity of a celebrity... In the same way, with a small dose of patience and resolve, one can come to know my birthdate via the information on the gallery's exterior display, camouflaged, for example, as one of the possible dates of my re-birth, or — in a better scenario — that of my definitive death. And so it is also the case with the fate of an alien (or an outsider of some kind), which, on one videoprojection at the exhibition, coughs up his message, waiting until it reaches someone - each pause representing an actual letter thereby forming an uncomplicated yet extremely sad phrase.... „
Jan Serých was born in 1972 in Prague. He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts from 1992 – 1999 in the studios of print-making (J. Lindovský), new media (M. Bielický) and painting (V. Skrepl). He was a member of the artist group BJ (Bezhlavý jezdec/Headless Horseman), which was active from 1997-2002, together with fellow Academy students Josef Bolf, Ján Mancuška and Tomáš Vanek. He was short listed as a finalist for the prestigious Jindrich Chalupecký Award both in 2003 and 2005 and has participated in many significant exhibitions of contemporary art including solo exhibitions at the Prague National Gallery (Dial, 1999), Dum umení Ceské Budejovice (Kdopak to mluví, 2003), Moravian Gallery in Brno (Abbey Road 2:45, 2005) and group exhibitions such as the Biennale of the Young (2002, 2005) and Praguebiennale2, (2005). His work is included in public collections at the National Gallery in Prague, and Wannieck Gallery in Brno.
Jan Serých's paintings, objects and videos function as conceptual trompe-l’oeil. He has created a formal abstract language derived from geometric tendencies in painting and typography presenting characters depleted of their original significance. In Serych’s work, nothing is assumed and everything is open to question - symmetrical geometric or typographic shapes are exposed as multi-purpose covers meant for recycling and obsessional observations. Serých both simulates and mocks accepted rules and aesthetics, creating his own system - one where multiple meanings are possible and, where at the same time, sometimes nothing much at all is conveyed.
“Although the exhibition Takemehome consists almost entirely of paintings, it can seem in its visual conciseness to be a manifestation of a new iconoclasm. However, it is primarily a reflection of my current obsession with codes and secret messages, their inherent value and conditionality. What is hidden behind the wall of these codes is in fact very simple and accessible information. However, ease of acquisition is not, of course, directly proportional to a thing's value in our eyes and obstacles often act paradoxically as aphrodisiacs - be they the awkwardness of dialing an unfamiliar number at 7:30 in the morning as prompted by one of the "painted" instructions, a young camper's Czech-English translation using Morse code, the hidden identity of a celebrity... In the same way, with a small dose of patience and resolve, one can come to know my birthdate via the information on the gallery's exterior display, camouflaged, for example, as one of the possible dates of my re-birth, or — in a better scenario — that of my definitive death. And so it is also the case with the fate of an alien (or an outsider of some kind), which, on one videoprojection at the exhibition, coughs up his message, waiting until it reaches someone - each pause representing an actual letter thereby forming an uncomplicated yet extremely sad phrase.... „
Jan Serých was born in 1972 in Prague. He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts from 1992 – 1999 in the studios of print-making (J. Lindovský), new media (M. Bielický) and painting (V. Skrepl). He was a member of the artist group BJ (Bezhlavý jezdec/Headless Horseman), which was active from 1997-2002, together with fellow Academy students Josef Bolf, Ján Mancuška and Tomáš Vanek. He was short listed as a finalist for the prestigious Jindrich Chalupecký Award both in 2003 and 2005 and has participated in many significant exhibitions of contemporary art including solo exhibitions at the Prague National Gallery (Dial, 1999), Dum umení Ceské Budejovice (Kdopak to mluví, 2003), Moravian Gallery in Brno (Abbey Road 2:45, 2005) and group exhibitions such as the Biennale of the Young (2002, 2005) and Praguebiennale2, (2005). His work is included in public collections at the National Gallery in Prague, and Wannieck Gallery in Brno.