David Vojtuš: Variability

16. 9. - 24. 10. 2020
curator: Lenka Sýkorová
photo:Markéta Bendová

Accompanying program:
Wednesday, October 7, 2020, 2- 4 pm workshop for adult
cancelled - Saturday, October 24, 2020, 2- 4 pm workshop for children, 4- 5 pm Curator-guided tour.

David Vojtuš represents the upcoming generation of visual artists. He creates a series with a predetermined concept that revises drawings, graphics and objects. David Vojtuš is fascinated by consumer and industrial materials referring to consumer capitalism. He does not tell stories about the state of the world, but communicates very well with the viewer through the absence of a story in abstract form. In the context of contemporary art, the artist focuses on two thematic levels. The first level is economic, i.e. capitalist and consumer culture, where the artist is fascinated by plastic goods packaging used for tons of products. David Vojtuš is captivated by the combination of various plastic bags used in the food industry and decided to paraphrase it in his free artwork. He fills plastic bags with various liquids or engraves his graphics on plastic bags and then inflates them with air or fills them with water. With this activity, he focuses on the second level, which is the absence of classical graphics in contemporary art. This is why he uses in his artwork classical graphic principles with reference to developments in the printing industry, which enabled mass packaging prints. David Vojtuš creates products in response to consumer trends, which resemble artefacts of contemporary visual art. His artwork is very easy to recognize because of his emphasis on the given visual art techniques that he has mastered. Vojtuš feels that themes are limiting and prefers to communicate through materials that are placed in the forefront of the viewer's attention. Paradoxically, the viewer is thus more drawn into the field of interpretation through the emphasis on the materials, craftsmanship and aesthetic qualities of artefacts. For the Altán Klamovka Gallery, David Vojtuš created an object that gives the viewer several tasks. It is variable because it makes it possible to create a different image and situation every week. It attracts the viewer with its detail and layering. The exhibited object refers to the current pressure and constant transformation, reflects on the illusion of reality and was made for the limited space of the gallery. The variability of the welding shield strips chosen as the material is essential for constant transformations and shifting. The object dominates the gallery and the viewer is confronted with the object without a chance to step back. Therefore, the viewer is forced to concentrate only on a detail, which is also the case in our everyday life filled with tons of information and stimuli. Behind the abstract level of the artwork in the context of contemporary art, the viewer can see the attempt to reflect on universality, the layers and complexity of today’s world and deception through frequently superficial visuality.

David Vojtuš studied Illustration and Graphics, Media and Didactic Illustration at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art (the former Art and Design Institute) at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and after that at the Studio of Free Graphics, Department of Graphics and Drawing, Faculty of Art, at the University of Ostrava. Since then, he has become part of the Ostrava artistic scene.

Lenka Sýkorová

for download CATALOG-VOJTUS