František Matoušek

The work of František Matoušek is distinctive because of the specific material he uses and which has become an unmistakable attribute of this artist’s work. In the 1990s, he replaced painting canvas with denim. He pulls out white threads from its structure but he also uses it as a painting surface for acrylic pigments. The structure is similar to that of a course painting canvas. It seems that the technique of unravelled fabric is not used for its formal characteristics only. The material gives ground for the painting itself but its existence also corresponds with, and at the same time embodies, the themes unravelled by the author. In the context of Czechoslovakia of the normalization era, it may present a possible reminiscence of the desire children of real socialism had for a life of freedom over the ocean. Denim, just like memory, comes to represent a filter through which we get in touch with childhood memories, adolescence and life. Besides intimate interior scenes and gentle portraits, Matoušek also paints landscapes - both rural and urban. Even though the design of architectural solitaires is not one of the most common subjects, his view of the interior of St. Vitus cathedral is a perfect illusion of the deep space of a Gothic church with the chancel at the far end of the dim nave beckoning with its ethereal glow.