Ostara, Galerie Albrecht, Gallery Week, Berlin
Drawing Now, Paris, with Galerie Albrecht
Kroužit nad propastí www.whiteweiss.com/
Analýza Očistce trafogallery.cz/vystavy/analyza-ocistce
PERLYVPERLE, NG Nová Perla, Kyjov, ČR
https://bubahof.com/udalost–bubahof/veronika–holcova–perlyvperle/
Hands and what they mean
https://www.galeriesusannealbrecht.de/
Veronika Holcová, Wortnerův dům, AJG, České Budějovice
20.2.–24.4.2022
Gulliver’s Sketchbook KAI10
https://www.kaistrasse10.de/ausstellungen/gullivers–sketchbook.html11. 10.3.– 26.6.2022
Heart on the move
OGL Liberec 25.9.2020 – 3.1. 2021
Canada 2015 – 2019
GAVU Cheb 10.9. – 22.11. 2020
Birth of Indigo
Gallery Vyšehrad, Praha 4.9. – 11.10 2020
Radical Women DSC Gallery
Wild Game
Villa Pellé
Pelleova 10, Prague 6
18.7.–22.9.2017
http://www.cuttsgallery.com/artists/veronika–holcova/#/images
Within Hand's Reach, book of drawings, http://www.veronikaholcova.cz/files/vh.pdf
Pandora Vox, City Gallery Prague
Klara Kristalova, Sandra Vasquez de la Horra
Under Ground
19.1. Gallery Dole, Ostrava
10th December 6 p.m. ANIMANIMUS, k.art.on gallery, Karlin Studios, Prague
Exhibition of Drawings
The Waiking Dragon, contemporary inspiration from east–asian art, NG, palace Kinsky, Prague
On the Blue Shore of Silence, Tracy Williams, NYC
ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) is an international humanitarian organization providing assistance to people in need.
Apparent Movement of the Sun, gallery A.M.180, 21.3.–11.4.2014, Bělehradská 45, Praha 2
KATZ CONTEMPORARY, Zürich, 24. 10.–22. 12. 2012
SCIENCE & FICTION – A LABORATORY OF DRAWING
curated by Sebastian Utzni
24 october – 22 december 2012
opening: tuesday 23 october 2012, 6–8 pm
hans arp giovanni francesco barbieri rené beeh anya belyat–giunta duncan butt juvonen eugene delacroix charles dufresne peter emch feipel & bechameil hanne darboven piotr dluzniewski ladina gaudenz adrian germann patrick graf stephan hausmeister ferdinand hodler veronika holcová alain huck daniela justiniano martinka křemečková elke krystufek janette laverriere andreas marti thomas müllenbach vera ida müller bettina mürner zoran music camille pissaro reinhold rebhandl anke röhrscheid johannes robert schürch marianna uutinen sandra vasquez de la horra stéphane zaech
Opening at Thursday 20. 9. 2012, 6 p.m.
Galerie Montmartre, Praha, 10. 9.– 8.10. 2012
Galerie Caesar, Olomouc, 4. 9.–26. 9. 2012
She
Most of Vernonika Holcova’s recent paintings combine figural and landscape motifs in a highly distinctive manner. Both these elements, or means of expression, have undergone a multi–faceted development in her work and their symbolism is to an extent interwoven. At the same time, both approaches have crystallized, imparting a specific message. The figure, the main bearer of meaning in her first important works, was later replaced by the more subliminal
language of landscape, eventually leading her to an artistic expression in which landscape is the counterpoint of the inner worlds of the figures depicted. These figures wander almost inaudibly and non–corporeally through an imaginary landscape, turning away from the viewer and shutting their eyes – they are shadow–less intangible silhouettes, heading towards the unknown. The real movement, the stirring of the mind, is taking place outside of the time and place of the paintings. The form of the diptych and triptych, which Vernonika Holcova often selects, generates tension between the static nature of the painting, its necessary delimitation in time, and an intense narrative, which is almost imperceptible to the eye of the viewer, however, taking place somewhere in “in–between” space – between the paintings. Often this concerns some apparently inconspicuous transformation, which, however, has depth and is disturbing at the same time. The figures of young women portrayed with a picturesque thoroughness – whose autobiographical aspects cannot be missed – seem not to belong to the world in which they appear with an inexplicable randomness. Perhaps this is part of their dreamy visions, infused with eroticism which lends them presence and urgency. Within this eroticism, which no doubt includes the motif of the dog or the almost intangible silhouettes of plants, their stems and bell–like structures, we find feelings generated by aimless wandering, estrangement and proximity, pain and injury – in other words of elementary human experience. The landscapes in which these figures are placed are imaginary worlds where space and time lose their continuity and boundaries, as they do in dreams. They are created through a layering of horizontal lines, or the interconnection of horizontal planes, as if pointing to limitlessness – the bottomless nature of space (The Tide, 2005). Surprisingly, a new horizon sometimes appears beyond the horizon (Echo, 2005), opening a vista into another world that is both within reach and unattainable, tangible and intangible, real and imaginary. Perhaps this feeling of proximity and seclusion is also expressed by the motif of the mysterious house, which, like the world that is by its very nature closed to our eyes, becomes a mere transparent silhouette. On the contrary, the verticals form points of reference and security, as well as connecting lines to the world of the observer. This entire space is filled with a profound silence and calm. Only the slightly blurred atmosphere allows us to suspect inner tension and agitation, of whose origins we learn nothing. The feeling that springs from these works is that of aimless wandering or the incertitude of occupying spaces that lack fixed contours and boundaries. The young women in Veronika Holcova’s paintings lack shadows and they emerge in landscapes without boundaries. However, the shadow is an old metaphor for the soul and its absence is not only an expression of the process of becoming immaterial, or alien. Their souls are restless, lost and wandering in other worlds, opening to inner sight in in–between–spaces and beyond horizons. This is the preserve of complex experiences and visions, which though not easy to decipher, speak volumes.
Tomáš Drvota