Lot 145

Patrik Hábl (1975) GOLDEN MOUNTAINS

Hábl painted his debut Golden Mountains when he returned from China. Here the mountain is the center of the universe; over the following years he used his newfound technique of tearing into the canvas to investigate the drying and expanding characteristics of oil paints.

Patrik Hábl is one of the most striking faces in contemporary Czech art working with both the painting and its installation in space (solo exhibitions at Dox – Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing International Art Biennale, exhibition in Kyoto, Japan, 2015). He has created a number of works for display in important historical buildings: a 15-meter installation in the church at Speinshart Monastery; an installation for the permanent exhibition at Aleš South Bohemian Gallery and a 100m2 painting that was included in his exhibition at the gallery titled "Paintings in Architecture", 2016; a ten-meter Lenten veil for the Church of Maria am Leech, the oldest church in Graz; he encircled cell  no. 41 at the Small Fortress of the former Theresienstadt/Terezín Ghetto with a painting composed of 600 figures, 2017) . He also worked with architect Stanislav Fiala in the artwork for the Drn building and Swéerts-Sporck Palace in central Prague. Hábl currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. His work has been awarded the Waldes Prize and Europol Art Award, and he was nominated for the Top 10 People of the Year in 2013.

The painting has been exhibited at: Vertical Landscapes, Memorial of National Literature in Prague, (2015)| První krkonošská výstava (First Exhibition in the Giant Mountains), Galerie Morzin, Vrchlabí (2016)| Ahoj 2017, Spitalkirche, Schwarzachtalhalle, Neunburg, Germany (2017)| Central Bohemian Triennale 2018, Rabasova galerie, Rakovník, CZ (2018)| In: 2018 Central Bohemian Triennale catalogue.