art

Prague’s very own Olbram Pavlíček turns everyday objects and places into zones of intimate reflection. In his site-specific installation KORPSEPUNX he juxtaposed ergonomics and discomfort, the mundane and the aesthetic, and in this interview he even divulges the social implications of non-invasive body modifications.

Text by Alexander Lepianka captures the essence of Alexander Fahima’s audiovisual piece, The Rules of Attraction, which is a free-flowing series of real-time interactions, improvised snippets, and bodies. The use of a party as a medium sets the stage for opéra concrète – an amalgam of performance, livestream and excerpts from the libretto of Wagner's opera.

Based on the story of Adam and Eve, “nakedness became sinful the very moment it was first observed.” Latvian sculptor Miķelis Mūrnieks forged unyielding metal frames filled with malleable polyurethane foam, revealing abstract female nudes, intended to defy the male gaze – but can a male author achieve that?

Series of paintings and stuffed sculptural objects featuring various fleshy apparitions by Polish artist Alexandra Liput aim to strip depictions of genitalia off taboos and cheap eroticsm and give them back their ancient status of fertility, wealth and luck symbols.

After witnessing first-hand the brutal conditions of forced child prostitution in Southeast Asia, Laura Limbourg creates an ethereal play of watercolor in memory of its victims. Today, the acclaimed artist shares her experiences and perspectives on art, wild animals and her other projects.

In what is often dubbed a genre of the anti-still life, Kamil Kukla explores today’s global visual culture oversaturated with sex and maximalism on his own terms. In his works we encounter disjointed body parts, wide brush strokes and peculiar, colorful landscapes that provoke our all-too-desensitized frames of reference.

BORA creates 3D artworks that seem to hang in the fragile balance between solidity and aether. These slippery bodies are like any other: unique, embodied, and craving intimacy. Let us explore Bora’s world to slow down and reconnect with our physicality.

3D ragdolls, uncanny connections and layered textures: Nicoleta Mureș creates a reflection of our technologized era in her art, and in this SWARM MAG interview goes into depth about her technique and inspirations with a selection of her recent surreal collages and animations.

Enter Pavla Malinová, the Moravian artist of eclectic influences and deep, saturated colors whose works remind us of ancient and non-European art, but which could only have been created in the second decade of the 21st century.

In her newest exploration of the sci-fi reality of the third millennium, the SCI_Arc professor Lucy McRae presents us with her take on imagining the processes of birth-giving in a not-so-distant world. Having collaborated with institutions such as NASA, MIT and TED, the Los Angeles-based Australian has all the tools necessary to performatively illustrate how science may soon radically redefine intimacy and how humans come into being.

Anežka Hošková “creates dream portraits in the dark landscape of her own parallel worlds, both unnerving and fragile” in sharp ornaments emerging from blurred watercolor. Enjoy her paintings and poetic curatorial statement to immerse yourself in her hazy, evocative visions.

Once we slip under the first, surface layer of surreal absurdity, we uncover a network of complex allusions and social commentaries artist Jakub Jansa masterfully weaves into universes of his own making in a series of storytelling videos.

Liga Spunde, the Latvian digital illustrator and multimedia artist tells SWARM MAG about her creative process, inspirations and 2019 exhibition of her pointed, disconcerting takes on a post-internet aesthetic, interrogating the phenomenon of online hate culture and what lurks beneath.

Let’s take a plunge into the imaginative world of Jeroen Duijf and his textured, earthy oil paintings turning the private universe of one's thoughts and associations outwards in a fantastic manner.

“Everyone should have beauty. Everyone should have access to beauty.” Chances are you have never seen anything like Nina Sivager's embroidered and tapestry-infused concrete house banners and decorative tiles, which manufacturing process was inspired by medieval handicraft.

Julia Makivic invites us on a journey that juxtaposes folklore with futuristic technology. Join us on a visit to Camaraderie Park, a haunted theme park where holographic spirits recall a painful history from a position of reconciliation and intimacy. Don’t forget to bring your wearables!

“I suppose the way humans think is naturally gothic in a sense. The desire to simplify the perceived world, to abstract everything we cannot reasonably grasp and, at the same time, be a part of it all,” says artist Dominik Adamec. Which way do the Middle Ages penetrate into his works, how does the contemporary chimera look, and what does repetition lead to?

In a self-described transhistorical and cyclical view of historical events, digital French artist Léa Porré explores the idea of the 'Sacrificial King', a mythological pattern found across all civilizations and eras, in juxtaposition with the decapitation of King Louis XVIth during the French Revolution.

Dominika Dobiášová's distraught girl guide will take you through dreamy, floaty scenes drowning in dimmed light and colours. The author regularly cuts up and resews canvases to emphasize the already fractured feeling.

If black metal were a landscape, it would manifest through the works of Russian artist Vladimir Omutov. His objects and sculptural works are distinguishable and noticeable mainly thanks to dark organic shapes that feel constantly fluid and pliable, reminiscent of dripping tar.