Although the two artists clearly differ in their artistic approach, sources of inspiration, and realities of life, their positions express less the contradictory than the complementary. In the intimate proximity of the gallery setting, their works enter a dialogue, posing questions and simultaneously offering answers.

Pavla Malinová (* 1985) draws inspiration from esoteric art, Central European folk art, pop culture and various expressions of painting history. Her works evoke emotive narratives, implicating the viewers conscious experience with the unseen world of emotion. In this way, Malinová’s work succeeds in a synthesis of figurative and abstract structures and ornaments. In the symbolically rich images, we find traces of personal and collective experiences, the influences of which can conjure up individual memories and emotions.

Malinová graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Ostrava. Her work can be found in numerous institutions across the Czech Republic as well as in Berlin, Brussels, and Kraków.

Josef Bolf’s (* 1971) paintings are populated by protagonists who radiate a deep sadness and vulnerability. His heroes have a childlike appearance, infused with nostalgia and an inexplicable urge to self-destruct. The artist closely observes the details of the world around him and transforms them into post-apocalyptic urban landscapes, evoking a sense of uncertainty, alienation, and ambivalence, an emotionally tense vertigo when faced with the timeless silence after the catastrophe, the consequences of which cannot yet be foreseen.

From 1995 Bolf studied at Kongsthögskolan in Stockholm and in 1996 at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart. From 1996 to 2002 he was a member of the art group Bezhlavý jezdec. His work is represented in public and international collections and institutions all around the world, for example the National Gallery in Prague, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in New York, as well as the AMC Collezione Coppola in Italy.

Both Bolf and Malinová, despite their differences, use a similar set of universal symbols. By interpreting, reinterpreting, reflecting, and rethinking them, they create in their own way an analogous documentation of contemporary life in all its melancholy.