Tales from the Dark Forest

Štěpán Brož, Tereza Melková, Eva Jaroňová, Gabriela Palijová, Anna Slama & Marek Delong

Curated by Veronika Čechová

At Entrance Gallery, Prague

March 24 — May 29, 2022

Photography by Martin Brazina

Advanced societies dependent on technology seem to fear the supernatural. They ridicule and ostentatiously question any beliefs in phenomena, experiences or events that cannot be explained rationally. But what is to be done in a situation where “reliable” science and technology fail and can no longer mitigate the fear of the future? How to face the state in which it turns out that human inventions and conveniences are changing life on the planet for the worse? Perhaps it is time to turn our attention back to the kind of knowledge that is not based on rigorous scientific research but nevertheless offers possible patterns of behaviour that are applicable in a state of crisis.

 

The archetypal stories that appear in various permutations across different cultures — myths, fables, fairy tales — have the potential of enabling a better understanding of what is going on around us. All these folk sources of learning and knowledge of the world share a crucial quality  — we intuitively believe in them from an early age. There is something trustworthy and very believable in their (often merely apparent) straightforwardness, even if they are often full of non-existent beings. And even if we scornfully dismiss them later on or even mock our earlier naivety in accepting them as a truth, we carry their point within us. And in times of crisis, we secretly recall them, hoping for the validity of their legacy, hoping that hard times pass and a “happy ending” eventually arrives.

 

The authors whose works are on display in the exhibition Tales from the Dark Forest are not afraid of mysterious stories. In their work it becomes evident that the fantastic and the idea of supernatural forces intervening in human destinies are relevant subjects for art even in a world that has distanced itself from ancient customs built in accordance with natural rhythms, bordering on magical rituals.

— Entrance Gallery

Tales from The Dark Forest, installation view
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Swan mixed media, 2019
Tales from The Dark Forest, installation view
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021, Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021
Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021 Swan mixed media, 2019
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021 Swan mixed media, 2019 Štěpán Brož The Happy Wanderer, oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová the Permanent Paradises series prints on paper, 2022
Eva Jaroňová the Permanent Paradises series prints on paper, 2022
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022 Gabriela Palijová What If? video, 2021
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022 Gabriela Palijová What If? video, 2021
Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021 Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022
Anna Slama & Marek Delong Humpwill wood, drawing on silk, 2021
Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022 Štěpán Brož Until The World Burns oil on canvas, 2021
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022
Eva Jaroňová The World Passes Through Human print on silk, 2022
Eva Jaroňová Garden of Permaculture Delights print on silk object, 2022
Tereza Melková Dreamcatcher, textile sculpture with embroidery, 2022

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