Reality of Abstraction exhibition featuring Martin Moflar and Filip Svehla opens November 15
THINK+feel Contemporary is pleased to present exhibition Reality of Abstraction featuring two Central European artists in dialog - Martin Moflar (Slovakia) and Filip Svehla (Czech Republic) The exhibition is the artists’ second side-by-side presentation. It follows on the success of their recent large-scale exposition Anywhere Between Black & White that took place earlier this year (April - September) at Artium in Prague, Czech Republic.
Though significantly scaled-down, our more intimate presentation nevertheless offers a significant opportunity for US audiences to glean the reason why these two artists present the best the European abstract art has to offer.
The exhibition is scheduled to open November 15 with a reception and will be on display through the winter of 2025-26 at the 400 South Pointe Gallery on Miami Beach. For more information please contact the gallery.
To download the Press Release, Presentation and Catalog, please scroll down to the bottom of the page.
PRESS RELEASE
In a culture defined by the relentless deluge of information and representational imagery, abstraction endures as a vital, intellectual pursuit—a return to the fundamental grammar of form, color, and line.
This exhibition, The Reality of Abstraction, orchestrates a compelling dialogue between two of Central Europe’s most significant contemporary voices: the Slovakian artist Martin Moflár (b.1975) and the Czech artist Filip Švehla (b.1991). Following their initial collaboration in Prague for Anywhere Between Black and White, this curatorial endeavor offers American audiences a rare and intimate glimpse into their artistic exchange.
For centuries, Western art was bound to the mimetic impulse//For centuries, Western art was fundamentally anchored in figuration, committed to faithfully representing the visible world. The seismic shift toward abstraction in the early 20th century was a radical departure, a search for a new, more profound reality—one that could be expressed through the pure power of color, shape, and line, free from the constraints of objective representation.
The advent of abstraction in the early 20th century, however, was not a flight from reality but a profound re-orientation toward its underlying truths. This radical tradition, from Malevich’s “non objects” and Kandinsky's spiritual geometry to Rothko's sublime color fields, sought to express a reality that transcends the visible. Moflár and Švehla are heirs to this Eastern European legacy of Kandinsky and Malevich, continuing to explore the vast expressive potential that lies beyond the confines of mere likeness, each demonstrating a unique fidelity to the expressive potential of non-objective art.
Moflár’s practice embodies a rigorous, almost monastic, pursuit of the sublime. A graduate of the Technical University in Košice, his work is an act of deliberate distillation, an intellectual endeavor to achieve profound harmony through monumental scale and meticulous form.
His recent solo exhibitions, including Soft Lines, demonstrate a mature command of color and line, positioning him squarely within the lineage of postwar masters such as Barnett Newman and Ellsworth Kelly. Moflár’s canvases, a result of a slow and precise process, function as objects of deep contemplation.
Švehla's work, in contrast, engages with the chaotic and dynamic energies of the contemporary world. His practice, spanning painting, installation, and object-making, is a testament to his versatility and adaptability. A protégé of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, Švehla has cultivated an international perspective through residencies in Miami and New York, showcased in his exhibition (Un)attainable Light. His canvases are not static fields but vibrant arenas of kinetic and rhythmic abstraction, translating sensory data into a language of explosive color and texture.
In The Reality of Abstraction, Moflár’s paintings serve as the Inner Canvas, charting the quiet, psychological terrains of introspection and consciousness. His work is a testament to the idea that a profound reality exists within the self, revealed through the discipline of form.
Conversely, Švehla's work acts as the Outer Canvas, a vibrant cartography of external sensory experience. Through his gestural and layered compositions, he explores the reality of a world in constant flux.
The exhibition subtly positions Moflár’s grounded, methodical presence as the philosophical anchor, allowing Švehla’s more energetic and spontaneous expressions to resonate within a historical and conceptual framework.
This dialogue underscores that abstraction is a living tradition, a testament to the enduring power of non-objective art to articulate complex truths.
The collaboration between these two artists—one a master of disciplined introspection, the other an innovator of sensory expression—is not simply a generational exchange but a profound conversation on the nature of reality itself.
Their shared Central European heritage, a backdrop of a post-Soviet creative renaissance, adds a unique depth to their individual pursuits. Through their shared commitment to the universal language of abstraction, they prove that the most fundamental questions transcend geographical and generational divides.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Martin Moflár
Slovak Republic, 1975
is renowned for his large-format abstract paintings that masterfully achieve a profound harmony between color, line, scale, and form.
A graduate of prof. Rudolf Sikora's studio at the Faculty of Arts of the Technical University in Košice (1999–2005), where he currently lives and works,
Moflár has been actively exhibiting since 2006. His notable solo exhibitions include Protocompositions, Kontemplácia (with Eva Moflárová), and Martin Moflár – Soft Lines.
He has also participated in significant group exhibitions such as the Artbanka Museum of Young Art project and PING-PONG. Moflár's international presence includes collaborations with Think+Feel Contemporary, leading to presentations at SCOPE Miami in 2016 and 2017.
Moflár's artistic journey has seen a fascinating evolution, from early abstractions rooted in organic forms to explorations of geometric precision. His current body of work features what could be described as colored monochromes, often dominated by rich reds and punctuated by artfully arranged lines and linear arabesques.
These seemingly random yet meticulously designed elements, devoid of visible brushstrokes, invite viewers into an "adventure of perception," a visual metaphor for psychological depth and the often-unnoticed spaces of transcendence.
The very act of observing Moflár's art encourages a projection of personal emotions, mirroring the viewer's unconscious thoughts and experiences.
His ability to evoke a sense of the sublime through abstract language positions him within a lineage of artists like Mark Rothko, Barnet Newman, and Ellsworth Kelly, while maintaining a distinctly individual voice.
Filip Svehla
Czech Republic, 1991
is a versatile artist working across painting, installation, and object creation. His artistic focus lies in the rhythm, form, and interconnectedness of color relationships, often abstracted from real-world environments.
Based in Prague, Švehla demonstrates a notable adaptability, evidenced by his participation in the Summer Academy in Venice (2017), a year spent in Valencia (2018), a residency in Miami through Think+Feel Contemporary (2022), and recurring engagements in New York, where he established a stronger presence through the Grey Nivas Art Residency (2023).
He honed his skills at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, studying under prominent figures such as Prof. Jiří Sopek, Robert Šalanda, and Michael Rittstein. His exhibition history includes Armonico, Dnes i zřita bude líp, and Gesta prostoru.
The core of Filip's work is his own corporeal experience as a constant walker and traveler—the ultimate flâneur. He embraces a nomadic vision where movement precedes the creation of fixed boundaries. The city, in his view, is not a static structure but a dynamic, constantly changing assemblage of transitional spaces.
The result of this embodied contemplation are works that function as abstract maps and rhizomatic interventions. His striking color fields, including innovative foil collages, are designed to engage the viewer's gaze as an embodied, interactive action.
Švehla's art challenges the viewer to look beyond the visible, to embrace the position of the stranger, and to activate their imagination. To see his work is to think; it is to engage in a profound, imaginative dialogue about the ever-changing boundaries between our inner selves and the urban world we inhabit. Švehla's practice is a vibrant counterpoint to the contemplative tradition, translating the observed realities of the external world into a language of energetic color compositions.
Download the Reality of Abstraction Presentation
To inquire, please contact:
THINK+feel Contemporary Miami
info@thinkfeeart.com
305.804.7484