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ELISKA ROZATOVA
Searching for order
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Eliska Rozatova belongs to the generation of artists who presented themselves in the late sixties. Besides glass she
already devoted herself to painting at that time, especially to constructionist tendencies typical of that period. The
artist exploited this material for her studio glass - color played a key role in her work already at that time and she focused on experimenting with color and different technologies.
Since the seventies the artist concentrated mostly on a few glassmaking techniques, in particular window panels and
mosaics, producing large-scale works for architecture, which enabled her to show her refined sense of color
composition in harmony with architectural space. Let us mention some of her most significant works. mosaic for the department store in Michalovce (1975), glass mosaic for the concert hall Atrium in Prague (1982), painted window panels for Tan Long restaurant in Prague (1985) and the design of the passage Pragoexport in Prague (1988-90).
The past decade may be regarded as a new phase when she began to concentrate
again on studio glass. Eliska Rozatova took part in the projects entitled Space I and III, organized by Kristian Suda, which have become a great challenge for her. For Space III (1986), which took place in Vsemina, she created ' a glass object entitled Roof, which reflected her previous endeavor at combining metal constructions with painted and metallized glass panels. The metal construction is no longer a mere support of glass but has become an integral part of the work of art. The construction represents a certain order into which a glass panel is fitted whose color structure is able to both reflect light and partially absorb light. Although such an expressive object was meant to be displayed outdoors, it may be felt as a kind of an artificial neologism, however, when displayed in the open air it is in perfect harmony with the surrounding nature.
This object, which has been successfully exhibited several times, marks the beginning of a series of smaller and
larger-scale realizations, in which Rozatova combines metal constructions with glass. In some cases glass conforms to an order defined
by the construction and the clear, expressive color plays a principal role. With other objects, made of remelted and painted glass, the glass behaves as an element that flows beyond the boundaries set by the construction. The objects made of remelted glass I create a conflict between order, geometry and disorder, between an organic, uncontrollable element.
The tension that arises often conceals an ecological message and leaves a strong artistic impression. With some works even
the construction itself has
been disturbed as though it had yielded to the power of glass. This principle is a dynamic one as regards both form and thought, which arises form the inner tension of forms. Let us recall some objects (e.g, the glass object “Disturbed Structure" exhibited in the gallery Nova sin in 1989 at the exhibition Surface - Space (where the artist has abandoned the construction, and the remelted and painted-glass is confronted directly with natural materials (such as rocks, soil...).
This shift in form springs from the new approach to issues of ecology and evokes the danger of destroying j the natural
balance in nature. Man through his activities (mainly industrial) has endangered not only his living
environment but even his own life. I The artist has shown her talent as a painter not only in her painted glass objects (Shelters 1989, Gate, 1991) but also in her drawings and paintings. Combining different drawing and painting techniques she either develops her constructivist spirit - for example in her recent paintings she employs geometry and perspective to create an illusion of strange imaginary spaces - or in her large drawings she reflects her feeling for nature. The artist synthesizes these two fundamental but not controversial tendencies constructivist and expressive - especially in her large-scale works, in which she uses not only glass and metal but also other natural and man-made materials. Some of her works are close to minimal art let us mention her work in Pruhonice, where a geometrical composition of clear glass panels has been con fronted with grass and the surrounding landscape. The exhibition in the gallery Nova sin is not meant to give an overview of the artist's work but aims at pre senting her contemporary artistic standpoint. The conception of the exhibition is supposed to give an impression of a whole, based on the interaction of three-dimensional objects, drawings and paintings.
Vaclav Erben
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