White Unicorn Gallery in Klatovy
2. 10. - 27. 11. 2011

A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1982-1987), Jiří Kornatovský is a respected artist in the Czech Republic and abroad.

The exhibition “Meditation through Drawing,” which opens towards the end of 2011 at the White Unicorn Gallery in Klatovy, offers a cross-section of Kornatovský’s work from the past thirty years, offering visitors the possibility of immersing themselves into the artist’s transcendental view of the world, transformed into precise strokes of charcoal across paper or canvas.

This exhibition of Kornatovský’s drawings and objects is a joint project by three galleries of contemporary art in the Czech Republic – Galerie Klatovy Klenová, Galerie Trutnov, and the Regional Art Gallery in Liberec. A traveling exhibit, “Meditation through Drawings” is a loose follow-up to a 2003 project of the same name organized by the National Gallery in Prague.

Frequent witnesses to Kornatovský’s large-scale drawings were the monastery in the western Bohemian town of Plasy and the Augustinian monastery in Prague – two locations that fulfilled his need for a spiritual space for his artistic work. Nevertheless, many of Kornatovský’s drawings were created in the small studio in his Prague apartment. The large-format drawings, which are based on the artist’s meditative exercises and contemplation, are absolutely unique works of art. Immersing oneself into their spiritual form brings to mind the focused concentration of the ancient masters of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.

It is not unusual for Kornatovský’s drawings of almost inhuman dimensions to reach a length of five meters. Viewers may easily end find themselves lost within their rotating dynamic, becoming a part of the drawing – like entering a prayer room created by artist in which you become one with the work’s meditative power.

It has been roughly a quarter of a century since these enormous drawings first began to appear on the Czech art scene. Kornatovský himself dates the creation of the first predecessors to his long series of drawings to the period immediately following his graduation from the academy. At the time, he created two spontaneous drawings measuring 2 x 1.5 meters for one of the ongoing “Confrontation” exhibits. These drawings formed the basis for his later series of drawings. One was called “The Shape of Adventure” and the other “Into Space.”

The 1980s brought a burst of new energy into Czech visual art; new artistic groups were formed, new personalities born, and new possibilities opened up on the international scene. We are more than justified in assigning Jiří Kornatovský an important position within this generational movement, a movement in which he continues to be active today and on which he has left his indelible mark.

Helena Fenclová – manager of exhibitions and collections, Galerie Klatovy/Klenová