Eva Jaroňová: TOO HOT

“Since time immemorial, humans have used nature. At a certain point, however,
they began to extract too much from it. The age-old cycle of circulating nutrients
was disrupted. Those who realized their sins decided to sacrifice themselves.
Nature will reclaim what belongs to it from those who remain.”
(From Eva Jaroňová‘s text “Hopeless Prospects”)

Eva Jaroňová’s exhibition of drawings and prints presents scenes full of black humor and sarcastic commentaries on contemporary times. This selection of older and newer works, portraying scenes as morbid as they are humorous, is situated in an unexpected setting, staged by the architect duo Heinich & Stibitz. The paradox of the exhibition’s reference to extreme drought is the fact that at the Kostka Gallery, puddles of water tend to form even during minor rains. We therefore approached the architect duo Bibiana Heinichová and Jan Stibitz to satisfy the need to keep the works dry and transform Kostka’s monumental hall into a more intimate space suitable for the presentation of small drawings. The architectural design divides the space into three areas, each of which complement the individual pieces of Eva‘s work. 

Tomorrow, Which Already Happened 
Pencil on paper, 2015 - 2017 

The white entrance room presents a selection from a free series of post-apocalyptic drawings. The drawings progressively tell a story dating from the apocalypse to the resettlement of the Earth and interspecies coexistence. Here we find „Catastrophes“ depicting the extinction of civilization and the human race by such causes as the ecological crisis or an attack of mutated ants. From today‘s point of view, the scenes have a chillingly prophetic character: people in masks and protective suits running chaotically amidst mysterious black fluid oozing from the earth‘s bowels, resembling recent public media images. Images of a bare urban landscape follow. Only some animal species have survived, and they march triumphantly among the ruins of corrugated columns meant to symbolize Western civilization. At the end, we see the seeds of a new life: empty spaces give way to a process known as succession, in which plants begin to claim their voices and take root in the depopulated spaces. 

I‘ll Teach You A New Song, Then Knock The Chair Out From Under You.  
Digital print on satin, 2020 (original paintings and drawings created 2012/13 - 2016) 

From the white room, a sharp turn takes us into a gloomy corridor, dominated by horror scenes reminiscent of children‘s book illustrations. The distressed space corresponds to a change in narrative, in which we move from the portrayal of a global catastrophe to personal anxiety and fear. The central character is a little girl, who is being eaten by snakes, birds, bats and other animals. For the purposes of the exhibition, we chose a line from Eva Jaroňová’s lyrics ”I‘ll teach you a new song, then knock the chair out from under you” from her time as lead vocalist for the PzH ensemble (Piča z hoven). Since time immemorial, humans have used nature. At a certain point, however, they began to extract too much from it. The age-old cycle of circulating nutrients was disrupted. Those who realized their sins decided to sacrifice themselves. Nature will reclaim what belongs to it from those who remain.” (From Eva Jaroňová‘s text “Hopeless Prospects”) “ 

TOO HOT 
Digital print on satin, 2020 (original paintings and drawings created 2019 - 2020)

Dark scenes morph into colors, through which the name of the exhibition is revealed. We see heat-infused face, blurry faces or otherwise unclear contours among these further images of figures without identifiable sex or with variable genitalia, watering the crops with their own blood. In Jaroňová’s latest drawings, they are people who, voluntarily or by force, lay down their lives for the benefit of the plants and environment. And it is at this moment that Jaroňová touches the currently discussed need to step out of our anthropocentric attitude in the benefit of creating interspecies kinship. 

Fizkultura 
Digital print on satin, 2020 (original paintings and drawings created 2012/13 - 2016) 

In the last part of the exhibition we find drawings from the Fizkultura series (the term is Russian for “physical education”). Sensual and sensorial images portraying sadomasochism, fetish, exaggerated materialism, the hunt for eternal youth, and other „values“ of Western society create alluring, perhaps sleazy artifacts from pillows with a glossy satin finish. They are juicy and tempting to the touch. They are simply TOO HOT.

The exhibition was opened by a live stream with curator Eva Riebová. You can watch it at MeetFactory Facebook. On Thursday 13th August at 6 pm MeetFactory Soireé is on the agenda of the night. Eva Jaroňová will introduce her exhibition at this event.  

Eva Jaroňová (born 1984) grew up in Wallachia and now lives and works in Brno. She studied art education at PdF UP in Olomouc and at the Environment studio of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Brno under the guidance of ak.mal. Vladimír Merta and MgA. Barbora Klímová. Jaroňová absolved an exchange study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and an internship at the Icelandic Academy of Arts in Reykjavik. She specializes in illustration, painting and music, most recently focusing on textile design. Her published works primarily take the form of graphic novels and zines. Her book Pests (Škůdci) utilizes an experimental form of screen printing and risograph and includes an eponymous comic book of the same name. The author publishes her illustrations in magazines including Živel, Čilichilli, Artmap, FÚD, Host, on the Artalk server, and illustrates books published by Tribun. Jaroňová regularly exhibits in the Czech Republic. She is involved in the electro-pop musical projects ◊> ≈ (PzH) and No Fun at All in the House of Dolls.

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Eva Jaroňová: TOO HOT
artist: Eva Jaroňová 
curator: Eva Riebová
architecture: Heinich & Stibitz
production: Jan Vítek 

photos from the exhibition Tomáš Souček

opening hours: Monday–Sunday 1 pm–8 pm 
free entry 

Kostka Gallery is not barrier-free.