‘Post-Baroque Folklore’ by Aleš Novák at Pragovka Gallery

The exhibition is shorter than the name.

Aleš Novák has been dealing with updating Baroque and its principles by the means of contemporary materials and thoughts in his artwork already for a while. Since 2010, Aleš intensively deals with the creation of furniture installations in his sculpture artwork, while using his own more or less artistic artefacts in order to erase the boundaries of their artistry and the opposite, raising from the principle of cumulating the objects in the artist’s house.

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

The functionalist building of the Ministry of Post and Telegraph, nowadays known as a studio called Pragovka Art District, exhibits a unique "neo-baroque" installation. Novák uses the functionalist pillar located in the middle of the gallery as a key for the object of deep spiritual significance. In the installation, he works almost exclusively with postmodern pieces of furniture combing them into an extraordinary sculpture: The sculptures and the objects, which Novák puts together, looks as if referring to the work of a Baroque sculptor who forgot to die and still experiments with other new materials.

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák, view of the exhibition Post-Baroque Folklore, photo: Marcel Rozhoň

Aleš Novák is an artist who is honest: he does not see the Baroque spirituality as a concept, he really believes in it. The morphology, known from the Baroque buildings, is making its way into new forms to win its personal struggle with the dirty monster of functionalism. Meditation becomes a natural part of the author’s work, just like his work is a natural part of his studio, or of himself. In the Pop-Up Exhibition, Novák creates the forms, which instead of simply repeating the already-seen situations, produce from recycled wood or pieces of furniture a distinct artistic testimony, in which he works with Baroque dynamics. This creates an easily believable “gesamtkunstwerk“, the possibilities of which we all doubt today. Everyone except from Aleš Novák.