At home in the game preserve

LIBUŠE VENDLOVÁ ∙ ZDENĚK DANĚK

Exhibition: 5 May - 11 June 2023

In the beginning, we would go to the countryside together and draw or paint landscapes.

There are no black spots in the forest, nor black spots - shadows.
There's some color everywhere, black only in spots.

Zdeněk went there for 11 years to paint the centuries-old oaks. He named parts of the forest as rooms - the hall, the living room, the big panorama... and to get a feel for the area, we named the individual trees.

Until recently, I've been lucky enough to catch
to paint their landscapes before the loggers came.

I was interested in people and their dwellings, I drew and painted cut-outs of interiors, later whole houses and spaces in context, with a storyline. I enjoy stories.

The Pheasant is supposed to represent the hero who does not care about fate
and obstacles, he wants to live and he doesn't give up. At the same time, he is also a victim,
who suffers, but is silent and pulls.

We take turns in the studio or one works in the living room. I do large drawings of houses on the carpet after making the bed. We take turns picking up the kids.

I have a lot of options on how to paint,
but I don't want to decide which one to use.
I need to get to a state where I have to outdo myself,
that the way I paint is based on necessity.

I am more motivated to devote myself to my children and be with them even at the expense of my work, painting, drawing or searching for meaning than Zdeněk. He's more successful as an artist and more determined.

Bend reality. There's an agate in everyone.

I need more company than he does. I try to organize events with friends or artists. To communicate and reflect the need for creativity and strategies of life in general. Zdenek is more introverted but similarly direct, naively honest and doesn't like conflict. He is interested in people he already knows.
I throw myself into conflicts quite spontaneously.

Photo Mikhail Slava