OFLUXO

Štěpán Brož’s narrative oil paintings applied with animal bristles act as manifestations of a well-thought- out branching of the tree of experience on the multi- profession painter-illustrator. The native of Řež often lets speak out the personal experiences from collective musical gatherings and altered states of consciousness in his work through the means of expression known more from the video game series “Tales of the Sword Coast” or the book universum written by Tolkien and Sapkowski. As in the work of co-exhibiting artist Mette Rasmussen, mythical figures of goblins and gnomes appear in his work. It is the latter example of an inhuman race of gnomes, characterized by short stature, that acts as the most similar to the ambiguous mood of his paintings and also functions as an intersection with the fascination with Danish elves in the work of Mette Rasmussen. A typical representative of the Gnomes can be a chaotic good gardener who grows turnips as a panacea and a for money laundering, such as the illusionist Jan Jansen in the second installment of the legendary RPG Baldur’s Gate II or the crazy visionary and demiurge who constructs airships and makes potions as Oswald Fiddlebender from Icewind Dale II, a game from the same world of Forgotten Realms. Štěpán Brož embodies this mood in a space cozied with bucolic scenes and sword-like tones of hurdy gurdy. However, in the hands of wandering bards, it can easily turn into an ominous “dungeon synth” hum, announcing a conjunction of spheres, in which the elementals come to life and the sublime clouds rise over the picturesque landscape.

According to her own words, the artist Mette Rasmussen, who lives on the Danish island of Bornholm, works with the notion of “historical transparency”, which in her case means mainly speculative connection to historical narratives, where local folk customs and legends have the same relevance as events recorded in written sources, as well as myths or even fixed ideas in the minds of historical actors. This is especially true for the person of the Danish romantic landscape painter Johan Thomas Lundby with his obsession with folk mythology and especially the domestic elves or dwarves “nisse”. From these mythical characters, Lundbye created his own alter ego. Mette Rasmussen states that a historical examination of the painter’s diary records suggests that he suffered from bipolar disorder and that embodying part of his personality in “nisse” was supposed to help him cope with mental disorder. Transversely, Mette Rasmussen herself speaks of nisse not in the spirit of autotherapy, but as a kind of mediator, fictional helper and “accomplice”, through which the artist can create her own narrative and develop it freely. In her conception of historical memory, the aforementioned romantic landscapist Lundbye can meet the Danish princess Leonora Christina Ulfeldt and, with the help of folklore beings, free her from the royal prison, where she was thrown for twenty years by the royal family. And all this despite the fact that the lives of both characters are more than a century apart. For Mette Rasmussen, the most important thing is romantic love, through which stories can be told in your own way.

Both artists got to know each other on Instagram, and thus, this joint exhibition is an opportunity to physically experience a space in which their art is strangely complemented and permeated, does not follow a clear path and yet pursues a common goal. Therefore, please accept the invitation to the “dwellings inhabited by fairy- tale creatures” (as the inscription Vættebo says) and let us set off with them along a path leading to regions behind the painting.