Symmetry & Soul

Fabien Castanier Gallery is excited to present a solo exhibition for Prague-based contemporary artist, Jan Kaláb. The exhibition, entitled Symmetry & Soul, is on view October 23 through November 20 beginning with an all-day opening reception. This is the third solo exhibition for Jan Kaláb at the gallery, which will highlight new paintings on canvas.
For Symmetry & Soul, Kaláb presents the next evolution of his body of work. Combining the dynamic movement of rounded and abnormally shaped canvases with the distillation of vibrant and incandescent color, the artist has created paintings which resonate powerfully within the spaces they occupy. The pieces come alive beyond the limits of the canvas as Kaláb plays with the structural elements of his medium, incorporating three-dimensional effects to render his pieces with depth and harmony.

In my recent body of work I investigate different types of symmetry and refractions of light. When I was a child, I was fascinated by looking into kaleidoscopes that created infinitely many shapes. Symmetry can have many forms, depending on how many axes the image reflects. The simplest is mirroring by one axis. All human and animal bodies are symmetric in this manner. Mirroring and reflections on more axes can be found in inorganic nature, like crystals. The most complex symmetrical object is a circle. I implemented colour gradients of the sky in different times of day and night into this optical illusion. In some cases, the effect is almost hypnotic, at other times the effect may be very reassuring. In this show there are some paintings assembled out of many smaller parts, which means the paintings are defragmented. I’m also showing three relief canvases. It is a special relief technique of a wooden frame with canvas stretched over it, creating perfect collapsed areas – besides colours, light and shadow come into play.