Jakub Roztočil
What does it mean to truly see – not to recognize a shape, but to understand the movement from which it arises? How long does it take for the eye to begin to see an image as space? And when does observation become experience?
Jakub Roztočil, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and enfant terrible of the Central European art scene, explores a similarly exclusive theme – “seeing” – in an exclusive exhibition of new works. With the help of new mechanics, he tests the possibilities of the process of machine painting, basic physical phenomena, and himself, encouraging us to look at the image in the same way we look at the cosmos—concentrated, slowly, without preconceptions, without the well-known words, mere metaphors of knowledge, at our disposal. Let us follow him on the fresh trail of his own fascination, listen to the rhythms and laws of the universe, and recognize them in ourselves. Let us not assume answers or results; Roztočil's paintings are not that anyway. His goal is to keep the system running – to understand and offer the image as an open visual field, as a place of intense polymer rain. He is not interested in confronting us with facts or meanings; he focuses on the phenomenon. He presents vision as a form of cognition, a slow approach to the inner logic of the world, which is revealed only when we allow it time.
