Jan Kotík (1916–2002) was mainly a painter, having a lifelong interest in the essence of a work of art and its position in society and excelling in intellectual reflection. He would transform his initial approach to the painting surface, gradually arriving at numerous variations of painting objects. He simultaneously created prints, drawings and collages and was famed for his inventive interventions in the sphere of applied arts and industrial design. He also realized his potential in theory. His intellectual approach nonetheless made the whole of his oeuvre an alive, variable stream based on the method of transforming the givens. It speaks of the sedulous coining of free modern expression: during the war period, against the ideology of "degenerate art"; from 1948, against the cultural policy of Social Realism; and of the effort to see off Kotíkʼs challenge in European cultural context. The concept of the present retrospective reflects the main subjects of Kotíkʼs particular stages of creative development, as well as the remarkable range of media he employed and their interconnection. The chronological order of the exhibited works is combined with confrontations across various periods − since Kotík, from the 1970s, repeatedly returned to issues solved earlier. The structure of the exhibition is first and foremost conceived with regard to the artistʼs subject of exploring the various possibilities of painting. The structure of the exhibition is first and foremost conceived with regard to the artistʼs subject of exploring the various possibilities of painting.
**Author of the exhibition concept and curator:** Iva Mladičová (ext.)
