Soulscape

Vojtěch Kovařík's exhibition "SOULSCAPE" at Galerie Derouillon presents a new body of work that engages in a dialogue with artists Aristide Maillol and Henri Rousseau. Kovařík strips his figures of narrative, focusing instead on conveying inner states such as doubt, silence, tension, and fragility. Figures like Adonis and Narcissus are depicted in moments of introspection or wavering self-perception. The compositions, with their isolated figures and intimate settings, draw parallels with Rousseau's reserved style, as seen in "Le Moulin," which features flat areas of color and a calm, detached atmosphere.

The exhibition explores the concept of "SOULSCAPE" as an inner landscape that is both personal and indefinable. Kovařík's work introduces a sense of displacement, echoing Maillol's "Le Monument aux morts de Port-Vendres," where monumental bodies convey doubt and fragility rather than overt power. A figure carrying wheat invokes Socialist Realism, but Kovařík inserts a subtle disruption, hinting at what lies beneath a heroic ideal.