I'm sure you've heard by now that we at the Telegraph publish signed author serigraphs called Telegraphs. If you haven't, it's high time to take heart, because we're just releasing a new limited edition Dominic Adamec.
Dominik Adamec (*1995) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, majoring in sculpture in the studios of Jindřich Zeithammel and Tomáš Hlavina. He currently lives and works in Berlin. Perhaps because Adamec comes from a Christian family, his early work is based on early medieval sacred architecture, sculpture and elements of religious liturgy. The language of his expression is built on the principles of semantic and haptic ambivalence, which are alien to Christianity. In the installations, which include readings of the author's texts and work with synthetically reworked chants, Christian symbols are thus transformed into manifestations referring to the erotic or biotechnological interventions. The corporeality conveyed by the paper surface of his sculptures is synonymous with human corporeality. In biology Adamec searches for anomalies in the origin of organisms and their developmental modifications. The surrounding world as a whole, composed of humans, animals and plants, has an impact on them. He considers chimerism to be the basic content and form of his work. He identifies the medieval concept of chimera as particularly important. The chimera guarding the entrance to the gateway to the underworld symbolizes not only dangerous nature, but individual animals representing human flaws, which are also a reference to Christian iconography. The motif of the chimera is thus applied to man to express his character traits, to draw attention to his schizophrenic nature and to express his fear of his own self.
The serigraph, titled Ambrozia, refers to the silent killer, sugar, which is depicted here in the form of a bred sugar beet. Ambrosia as the drink and food of the gods giving youth, beauty and immortality. Immortality then becomes a kind of artificial ingredient in human life. Sugar has always functioned as a human pleasure mould, after which there is a satisfaction that seems to be no death. The inscription DIE STERBLICHKEIT ANSTATT DIE EWIGKEIT, AMBROZIA GLUTAMAN - mortality instead of eternity - is meant to remind us that, for all the "sugar" of everyday life, one should not forget that one day one will leave this world.
The print measures 72 x 51 cm, like the others in the special edition Telegrafik, and was published in a limited edition of 100. You can buy the serigraph directly at the reception of Telegraph Gallery or at our e-shop, where you can also find other already published prints by Czech artists with whom we have previously established cooperation in the form of exhibitions or residencies.
Adamec's work was showcased in Open Studio at the end of his residency at the Telegraph in June 2022. If you want to know more about Dominik Adamec's work, listen to the podcast with him during his residency at the Telegraph.
