Jan Vičar: On the Road – 1/31/08 Havelka Gallery
I would first like to thank Jan Vičar for asking me to open his art exhibit with some introductory remarks. This is a great honour, which I am very pleased to do. Over the years his creations have been great discoveries for me and each new series continue to amaze me.
Jitka Grigerova and Jan Vičar decided to entitle this exhbit, On the Road because most of the work exhibited here today was done either during his various travels, or they were inspired by them.
Vičar’s travels, however, are not just about the routes he followed with map in hand. There’s also the abstract inner travels, a result of artistically delving into each new project. He doesn’t flirt with post-modernism. His art is intrinsic, authentic and deep. Although he’s a free spirit on the contemporary scene, he clearly leans toward the style of William Blake and Josef Vachala, with whom he shares a mystical awareness of art and its ability to portray magic realism.
Although some of his art is a reflection of everyday life, he is primarily inspired by nature, in the widest possible terms. Vičar’s art reflects a global cosmic process, an organic expression of indistinct stages, as well as more traditional landscape scenes. Each theme is created by the use of specific technology that enhances his artistic design.
His work is preoccupied with details. When a blow-up of a butterfly wing creates a motif for a graphic series he is absolutely elated. Other times, a detail that is part of a wider picture, becomes the focus---each random section of a large print has a creative and significant bearing on the total picture. His art can be a creation of his own king-size imagination or an abstract of an actual memory, or an experiment with impressions of actual plants. In any case his work focuses on the morphology of nature. Macrocosm becomes microcosm.
Vičar’s work does not represent reality; it presents his subjective reality; or even non-reality. His creations combine actuality with design; the historical with the contemporary; myths with facts. He submerges himself in the depths of hidden meanings that are only recognizable in their details.
As an example, the landscape in the Lake Wall (Jezerni Stěna) yields scenery of its genia loci (unique spirit). The realism of the scene is overshadowed by the artist’s subjective feelings, the visual sense blends with historical awareness and mystery of the place. Like a witch doctor, he retrieves an archaic memory and conveys it on the canvas without decreasing its intensity.
However, it is Vičar’s unique perspective that draws inspiration from where he is and what he sees. In South Africa he created a large woodcut taken directly from the floor of his studio; in Česky Krumlov he incorporated rubbings of local wooden doors into his graphics. Therefore, places become an active part of the work, not just a portrayal of reality, but its actual essence, which creates a vivid picture such as the painting with the impression of his son’s palmprint. This creative approach elevates the tone of the work to a magical dimension which is the ultimate goal of any artist.
His ingenuity is enviable. He uses many mediums, from classic graphic techniques to etching to the use of woodblocks and linocuts. Rather than allow his creative processes to be hampered by traditional methods of expression, he continually experiments and uses his own inventions on subjects that he wants to portray creatively. Vicar’s work is so original in concept and execution that trying to analyze his artistic steps in great detail seems sacrilegious.
Perhaps this exhibit should be called “On the Staircase.” According to his own description of his journey, Vičar continues to absorb newer and newer motivations, invent new techniques, and devise new ways in which to enrich his art. He is always moving one step higher on his imaginary staircase.