Czech Centre London presents a programme of films and videos by contemporary visual artists Dominik Gajarský and Roman Štětina, exploring their shared interest in the moving image through loose thematic associations and formal similarities, to accompany Roman Štětina's show at Spike Island Bristol.

Divided into five thematic pairs, this programme highlights both artists’ interest in studied observation and measured dissemination of diverse subjects, such as creative labour and human-animal relations, to produce works that border on anthropological documents. Covering subject matters such as mimicry of an Indian stick insect in the background of a female nude, a Steadicam operator´s job, a subtropical pavilion or film sets, the screening culminates with only one collaborative work: an internal portrait of The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague which, fittingly, both artists attended.

Film materiality and specific qualities of video imbue each work with an important layer of meaning; where Štětina’s videos are explorations or straightforward visual analyses of the environment and technical instruments used by specialists who spend time in radio, film or television studios – Gajarský’s films deal with cultural appropriation in Western culture and modernist foundations in art, in which the exoticism of indigenous cultures complements his interest in laboratory conditions and the ways of life of outlandish creatures.

Followed by Q&A with Roman Štětina and Dominik Gajarský, chaired by Maria Palacios Cruz, LUX.

Pavilion, Dominik Gajarský, 2013, 4'36 min, B/W, Digital
Threshold, Roman Štětina, 2015, 2’26 min, Colour, Digital
Test Room, Roman Štětina, 2015, 5‘56, Colour, Digital
Crausius Morosus, Dominik Gajarský, 2015, 5'09 min, Colour, Digital
Response, Roman Štětina, 2014, 3‘02 min, Colour, Digital
Alekhine vs Capablanca, Dominik Gajarský, 2013, 4 min, B/W, Digital
Tongue Twister, Roman Štětina, 2014, 5’50 min, Colour, Digital
Journey to the Beginning of Time, Dominik Gajarský, 2014, 1 min, B/W, Digital
White Rhino, Dominik Gajarský, 2015, 2'30 min, Colour, Digital
STUDIO No. 2 (Slapstick), Roman Štětina, 2013, 4’32 min, Colour, Digital
Sparkling Cabinet, Dominik Gajarský, Roman Štětina, 2015, 10’41 min, Colour, Digital

Roman Štětina studied in the studio of Tomáš Vaněk at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts from 2009–2015. His intermedia interest in radio as an institution has been reflected in a number of complex projects dealing with the question how image, sound, action and physical (or imagined, respectively) space touch, deny, exclude and complement each other in different situations. He won the Jindřich Chalupecký Award in 2014 and took part in various international residencies and exhibitions. One of his latest projects – Instructions for use of Jiří Kolář – will be presented at Spike Island Bristol, from October 1st till December 11th 2016.

Dominik Gajarský studied in Anna Daučíková´s studio at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. His work is not strictly anchored in one technological medium and he has managed to create a highly individual expressive language in terms of both form and content. The form of his works revolves around black-and-white images that allude to the discourse of modernist photography. In a subjective way that nevertheless references history he charts events of the cultural past. However, the results are not simply research outputs but form the structure for the creation of visual relationships. He exhibits frequently in Prague and Berlin.

A Czech Centre London initiative in partnership with PAF Aport

More info:
www.czechcentre.org.uk
www.pifpaf.cz
www.spikeisland.org.uk
www.romanstetina.com
www.dominikgajarsky.com