acrylic, canvas, 100 × 150 cm

purchased in 2019 with support from the Czech Republic Ministry of Culture

Skrepl’s paintings cannot be viewed solely as formal experiments, but primarily as imprints of a psychological process in which the artist attempts to free himself from rational schemata, deliberate and depictional methods. His unfettered processes naturally generate obsessions which stem from the unconscious and are manifested as figures with long hair, cats and dogs. His paintings are often contaminated with other materials (such as spray), or they metamorphose into three-dimensional trash installations and sculptures. These plastic objects are likewise rooted in his elemental spontaneity, irrationality and subconscious. The endless substructures of materials – stitched, glued and melted together – are not composed deliberately; their layering is again an automatic process. Skrepl occupies a unique position on the Czech art scene – and this is due to his professional background. Having studied art theory, his work represents an inverted, systematic attempt to break down all formal frameworks, enabling the deeper layers of his own psyche to emerge and express themselves spontaneously in his work. By freeing himself from rationality, thought and anchoring, and by abandoning himself to immediate, fluid emotions, he searches for a true expression of his inner self.

These acquisitions are typical examples of Skrepl’s distinctive artistic ethos. They feature obsessive animal iconography and represent imprints of the artist’s actional signature, overlayering and spreading thick layers of paint.