Iva Krupicová, Pavel Šimíček – Paradox of the Simply Discipline
Artist: Iva Krupicová, Pavel Šimíček
Title: Paradox of the Simply Discipline
Curator: Šárka Koudelová
Venue: Studio PRÁM, Prague
The works of Iva Krupicová and Pavel Šimíček are typical for their non-figural expression. It even seems that certain disinterest is part of the aim of both artists. As if they were both looking for a form that denies any action of the human hand and in its purity it captures the process to which inanimate (or half inanimate) products of nature are subject to. A form which is free from the burden and precedents of art history patterns and which is able to imitate the electric charge of lightning, the crystallization of rock, the river flow, or, conversely, the drying of plums and the crumbling of ancient boulders. However, paradoxically, to capture things that otherwise happen on their own is the hardest – probably also because of this seeming simplicity, Iva and Pavel intuitively put material and formal obstacles and counter-tasks in their own way.
Iva Krupicová is a trueblood graphic artist, fascinated by the complexity of the method and almost exclusively by a smaller black print format. Nevertheless, in this exhibition, as in many previous ones, she realizes a generous installation of a waterfall, which fragile transparency is the opposite of infallible zeros and ones of the intaglio printing. Her objects are also often based on the perfect book – making craftsmanship. Book, in which, however, is usually nothing to read, and again it seems that only the wind is allowed to turn its pages.
The rich expressive repertoire of the sculptor Pavel Šimíček has recently been adjusted, among other things, by the desire for lightness, while maintaing the maximum visual effect or even the volume. Apart from the practical aspect of things – the reluctance to transfer heavy objects with the help of several other people – Pavel’s motivation is the almost Gothic period – like need for etherealization and for creating a place with a natural spiritual dimension.
Simply said, we can summarize the current creative strategy of both authors with the following paradox: Iva sews so many sheets of lightweight paper that it is impossible to carry them, and Pavel lightens the statue so much that it is reduced to a line in space or a floating structure.
But what can be the real motivation of the artists, who expresses themself figuratively but never figurally? Unfortunately, the reasons are too clear at the moment. Iva Krupicová and Pavel Šimíček are looking for their floating island, the legendary Laputa, which is not affected by the toxic presence of people. A soothing microworld to which they can get by drawing meditatively. It is approachable through a crack in a pebble, which we carry in our pocket.
