Lot 176

Patrik Hábl (1975) BLACK MOUNTAIN

This painting is one of vertical bands of calligraphic landscapes, which like most of Hábl's work came about through bold experimentation. He paints on various supports, applying the paint with a roller, letting it drip, then letting it dry in the sun or freeze. He also experiments with the content. He offers the viewer the chance to observe unclear, non-material contexts, to let the hidden speak. His painting becomes a mirror of the spirit. When he speaks about the landscape, nature and naturalness, he explains that the permanence of these phenomena go fundamentally beyond that of man. Man changes, digs up, and rearranges only the material surface of things, but the spirit remains unchanged. It is not man who establishes values and writes the laws of nature. Patrik Hábl is one of the most striking faces in contemporary Czech art who works 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; at the Small Fortress of the former Terezín Ghetto he encircled cell no. 41 with a painting composed of 600 figures, 2017. 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.