The ninth and last room of the exhibition Signal III connects "Inhabitable Bodies" with "Czech Heaven". Here we find a cycle of four canvases entitled Sky by Bedřich Dlouhý. The painter has been active since the 1950s and was an active member of the Šmidrové group. They were known for their Dadaist free expression and recessive performances. They pointed to an art that was beginning to turn from aesthetically impressive artifacts to experience, the mundane and conceptual ideas. Long's artistic expression is a successful example.
In the 1960s, a wave of informel also touched Dlouhý's work and spilled over into his later works. He combines bizarre artefacts with classic, smooth Old Master painting. This is evidenced by the Sky series. The weight of more serious subjects is lightened by large-scale romantic landscape paintings combined with material art. Each painting is accompanied by an antique plinth with a Plexiglas transparent container with various waste objects. The ancient columns, as an artistic ideal, contrast strongly with the emerging ecological crisis. Starting from the soft pinkish tones of the sky, complemented by flowers, the colours of the canvases are gradually obscured by dark clouds with landfill objects. With this atmosphere of hopelessness, the painter tries to make people think more about contemporary mass production and its impact on the world.
Art historian Alena Potůčková generalized her view of Dlouhý's work in her catalogue (2002): "The mature artist breaks away from the community of his peers, he wants to be only himself. He is lonely and full of skepticism, he questions the meaning of his actions." And so, in the last room of the exhibition, entitled "Czech Heaven", we can find his works separately from the other artists.
By Ina Ličková / Telegraph Gallery
Photo: Matěj Doležel
