FILIP Svehla

Thinking about how to grasp and express shape eventually led him to create physical objects. The artist began to assemble small boxes from various materials, which he covered with rectangular plastic grids reminiscent of repainted parts of Spanish fishing shanty houses. The boxes subsequently grew into large boxes, with which he expanded into the gallery space. Due to their morphology, these cubic objects resembled both ventilation shafts and children's fortresses and bunkers, but their placement at the ceilings and in inaccessible corners of the gallery made it impossible to see or bypass them, creating a kind of allusion and a refined prank on minimalist works.

The teachings of Eastern philosophy and religion, which Philip became more familiar with during his travels in the Middle East and India, led him to realize that material problems can be expressed in mere color. Crucial to this was his discovery of local music, which consists of combinations of very close tones, sounding together almost cacophonous. He then began to apply this principle in his latest pair paintings, where he placed similar shades of color side by side in stripes, evoking a certain impression of disharmony, which is immediately brought into harmony by a complementary canvas composed of opposing and contrasting stripes.  The result  is a harmonious whole, which, however, does not lack internal tension.

In his work, Filip experiments with techniques, he tests color combinations, returns to ancient memories and sources of inspiration and mixes them with new experiences and sensory perceptions. He thinks about his procedures, but at the same time he is opened to chance and spontaneous gestures. It seems characteristic that the longer he creates, the more he gets to explore and become interested in the very basic questions and problems of painting, which are constantly gaining deeper meaning and importance for him. It is no coincidence that the transformations of his canvases clearly reflect this long-term process, which, however, in each of its moments represents an essential and integral part of the development of this remarkable and mature painter.

(based on the Czech original by K. Huptychova)