Anything Goes pt. 3: Phoenix  Curator: Michal Stolárik Artists: Radek Brousil, Filip Dvořák, Šimon Chovan, Ádám Horváth, Lukas Thaler & Titania Seidl, Adam Šakový The introductory part of a series of exhibitions under the common name Anything Goes (2019, artists: Svetlana Fialová, Pavla Malinová, Nana Mandl, Titania Seidl) and its sequel Anything Goes pt. 2: Techno ed. (2020, artists: Botond Keresztesi, Nika Kupyrova, Alex Selmeci & Tomáš Kocka Jusko, Céline Struger, Nik Timková) outlined the potential of interconnecting the artistic scenes of neighbouring countries. Confrontation of art works, the possible emergence of new dialogues, the stimulation of artists across the countries through exhibitions, and the (often premiere) introduction of foreign artists into our country’s context have become the key project elements. The project’s rules have never been narrowly defined, much less firmly tied to diversity, in nationality or media. The primary project goal is an organic selection of high quality art works (whatever that means for each person) and creation of a natural flow in the exhibition environment. The concept of the international exhibition Anything Goes pt. 3: Phoenix has naturally evolved from the previous part, defined through the coldness of the digital environment, a dystopic atmosphere, and emotions resulting from a post-apocalyptic reality. The feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and questions related to the survival of mankind corresponded to the mood in the pandemic society, and were combined with the quest for a restart or desired return to normal. This time I will, however, omit the unpopular c-word from this context. The chosen motif of the mythological Phoenix, which dies in flames and is reborn from its own ashes, has been adopted by many cultures or religions. The exhibition’s central point has become the principle of transformation and the symbolics of moments between life and death, the beginning and end, existence and extinction. The selected art works not only accentuate the real transformation of matter but also transformation at the ideological and symbolic level, with a strong emphasis on emotions and emotionality, inner experiences, and a rediscovered interest in refreshed ideas of romanticism or the power of unrestrained nature. The curator’s project Anything Goes pt. 3: Phoenix concentrates on artistic mystifications, formal deformations, or material reconstructions. The selected art works appropriate various materials and sources of inspiration, snatching details from different contexts and regrouping them into new forms. They are characterized by the uncertain yet fascinating moment oscillating between the form of a depicted subject and our perception of it. The art works intentionally offer a blurred reality camouflaged by the poetics of contemporary visual arts. Thus fractions of popular culture converge, with flashbacks into the history of art or architecture at one point, followed by the principles of recycling, mimicking forms, and regrouping of the matter. The art works have here ventured beyond the digital space, demanding to be experienced in the physical world, where truly anything goes. The exhibition is introduced by a selection of art works by the Czech visual artist Filip Dvořák (b.1990). In his works, Dvořák primarily focuses on expanded painting that extends into objects, videos, or installations. Hanging pictures from the series Hora a Mrak (2020) (Mountain and Cloud) and the spatial installation Till the End of Time (2017) are linked not only by similar monochromatic colouring but also a fascination for history, Gothic morphology, and a romanticizing view of the ruins of sacral buildings. Dvořák is inspired by the likability of ornaments he has observed in typical medieval diagonal arches, rosettes, or other constructions. His hanging paintings present collage-like combinations of abstracting gestural, pastose painting with subtle details ascending from the canvas (or the other way round – penetrating the canvas), offering a styled post-Casper-David-Friedrich like atmosphere of wild nature, misty mountains, and flashes of sunset. He further develops the impression of transiency and melancholic throwback to the past through deconstructed objects representing allusion to Gothic architectural elements. Sculpturally elaborated pseudo-ruins are acknowledged set-pieces, moving on a thin line between irony and genuine fascination by historical periods. The Slovak painter Adam Šakový (b.1987) created a new art work for the exhibition, following up on his recent series of paintings dominated by monumental monochromatic figures, appropriated historic pre-images and image traps that enhance the ambiguity of depictions, challenging the material nature of the works. This picture has internalized the principles of visual collage, combining various sources of inspiration on one surface, putting together different ideological processes and techniques of painting. This intentionally ambiguous painting is sort of a hazy romance hidden behind an unidentifiable organic object. The innocent topic of relationships (often present also in Šakový’s past art work) is actually an airbrush remake of a scene from a historic adult film. He has accentuated the physical scene through an illusive enlargement of a modelled abstract clay object, carrying the imprint of physicality while at the same time symbolizing variability or change. Conceptual thinking in Šakový’s paintings simultaneously opens up questions about originals and copies, or media transformation. The acrylic paintings, objects and spatial installations of the Hungarian artist Ádám Horváth (b.1988), living in Budapest, are in many cases his personal lyrical account. To communicate he uses metaphors and symbols stemming from untamed nature and unrestrained natural elements. He emphasises a personal mythology, combining it with the elements of mystics and open emotional romanticism. In detailed tiny to mid-size canvases he frankly confronts the topic of mourning, personal doubts, conflicts, or past injuries. He treats pictures as relics, used symbolically for storing his own ideas and feelings. What unites this selection of Horváth’s works is a symbol of transformation, offering hope for healing personal wounds and overcoming social trauma. This principle can also be observed in his art works’ charming titles (Decomposing Moment, Promises About A New World, To Recognise That This Teardrop Can Transform), which not only possess a distinctive poetic quality but also offer a key to deciphering the artist’s phantasy world. The art works of the Prague-based multimedia artist Radek Brousil (b.1980) have in recent years been naturally evolving and changing, both formally and ideologically. From a traditional hanging photography and conceptualized photographic medium he has ventured into film directing and production of objects or installations. This selection focuses on his ceramic art works that, like his other recent works, react to current social and political topics through an activist perspective on an uncertain future. The selection of glazed ceramic objects titled Hey Sorrow Where Are You? (2019) opens the question of the existing environmental catastrophe brought about by excessive and careless use of plastic bottles. Objects that at first seem pretty take on mimic expressions communicating sorrow, pain, or suffering. This melancholic situation is accompanied by a soundtrack in the form of the dystopian video loop Too Proud To Hope, Too Weak To Climb (2018) and a sound remix consisting of a selected instrumental pieces from 1990s guitar emo bands. The Slovak designer and visual artist Šimon Chovan (b.1994) has created a series of imaginary objects. The objects catch one’s attention at first sight through combining familiar materials with an unknown, almost disturbing and organic-like form. The mysterious matter of indistinctive origin or function hanging from the gallery ceiling could potentially be a (post-apocalyptic) cocoon waiting for the next stage of its development, or an outcome of unrestricted natural processes still undiscovered by modern biology. The disturbing moment is also accentuated by a prominent plastic pattern that could refer to the origin’s technological or biotechnological background. Fragile-looking objects are bound to the symbolism of passing time, motifs of progressing transformation, or creation of certain time and emotional capsules. A more detailed look will reveal their earthy character, the result of combining anorganic rocks and specifically tinted soil the artist has brought from his birthplace, a volcanic area in Banská Štiavnica. This art work also functions as a symbolic receptacle for diverse feelings related to universal topics, including intimate emotional processes. The activities of the painter Titanie Seidl (b.1988) and artist Lukasa Thalera (b.1989), both based in Vienna, have recently evolved into artistic collaboration, in addition to running the Viennese gallery Mauve. An original combination of symbolically oriented oil paintings (Seidl) and minimalistic spatial art works (Thaler) results in non-standard objects, installations, or complex environments. For this exhibition, the duo has created an exterior object of monolith appearance and mystifying function. The hybrid form, seeming like a memorial or shrine conserving memories and emotions from the past, combines fleeting imaginative painting interventions and sculptural thinking on matter and substance, together with a distinctive inspiration from architectural processes and morphology, all with a subtle air. At the same time the washed out wall paintings accentuate the present symbolism of transformation and the unstoppability of time. The mysterious monument is supplemented by a series of hanging art works inside the gallery. The pretended recycled architectural remains with rough painting inputs depict fragments of a human body, further developing the topic of interpersonal relations. Michal Stolárik