Juraj Toman, Andrej playing piano II, (2023) Oil painting on canvas H 60 x 50 cm - From painting to painting, Andrej in park (2023), Oil painting on canvas H 90 x 70 cm
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I N C O L L A B O R A T I O N W I T H :
Juraj Toman, Mondrian T-shirt, (2022) Oil painting on canvas H 30 x 40 cm
Night walk from image to image is an enchanting exhibition showcasing a curated selection of Juraj Toman's oeuvre. Toman's art gracefully weaves together diverse themes, genres, and artistic techniques, all stemming from a profound reflection on the environment that envelops the artist's life and work. His plein-air paintings, capturing the essence of urban peripheries, stand alone as autonomous masterpieces. Yet, they also serve as evocative backdrops for figurative compositions, seamlessly integrating real people, skillfully captured in Toman's studio.
Within this artistic realm, the original pictorial canvas transcends its singular existence. It becomes a fertile ground for creative exploration and, ultimately, varied interpretations. As a viewer, you are invited to craft your own narrative structure, seamlessly navigating through time and space within the exhibition. Images transform into reflections of other images, where the initial matrix dissipates, giving way to a new figurative intervention. The old and the new, the original and the repainted, engage in a dynamic dance, activating each other to birth a third and final image.
This phenomenon, while inherently artistic, mirrors the very principle that governs our perception of the world. Our senses intertwine external and internal processes, birthing a uniquely synthesized result. Toman deliberately embraces this principle, breathing life into older canvases, some aging up to 15 years.
Toman's revelation, where one image delicately emerges within another, serves as a compelling muse for further exploration. A literary parallel echoes in Michal Ajvaz's "The Second City," where the protagonist nightly stumbles into a parallel, magical Prague—a city within a city. Much like the characters in Toman's nocturnal paintings, there exists a passage from image to image, a captivating journey through the realms of art and imagination.
J U R A J T O M A N
N I G H T W A L K
S O L O S H O W
