Balabán Daniel, Bodzewicz Radka, Janovský Jakub, Jetela Tomáš, Konečná Sára, Koroman Ilona, Košťál Roman, Kurečka Tomáš, Matalová Kristýna, Lucie Pouchová, Slanina Jan, Sakuma Sota, Špaňhel Jakub, Ther Marek, Tytykalo Jakub, Vardanyan Anna-Marie, Vytiska Jan
The exhibition Freeze Frame? explores how the cinematic way of seeing is reflected in contemporary painting and how the return to narrative, scenography, and emotion shapes today's visual language. It draws attention to the cinematic principles that influence painting across generations and, in turn, presents painting as a space that transforms cinematic aesthetics into new meanings. It shows that today's painters think with a camera rather than a sketchbook, and that film is as natural a model for them as landscape was for the Impressionists.
curated by Radek Wohlmuth
The theme of cinematic inspiration in painting is both provocative and old-fashioned—primarily because cinematography, as a dominant 20th-century medium, is firmly rooted in that era, while TikTok and its endless stream of AI-generated images are successfully blurring its influence. In the past, this motif appeared more frequently within the realm of video art, but in painting—at least on our local art scene—a project focused in this direction has long been missing.
For some, the concept may be problematic simply because it programmatically brings narrative, theatricality, and emotion back to the center of attention. Yet, the exhibition does not seek to argue through storytelling, but rather through the intensity of the film frame. It focuses on the phenomenon of the "still," where most paintings capture scenes as if something pivotal preceded them or an explanation is about to follow. The key to these works is an urgency and tension similar to that found in thrillers or film noir. With few exceptions, the paintings are not direct citations in the sense of "portraying" a film, but are rather non-existent frames belonging to it.
Generational memory and pop-culture codes are vital factors, as specific films often form the natural visual environment in which the individual artists grew up. These are generations of painters who, by their very nature, do not think in terms of a "sketchbook," but through a lens. This manifests in various ways: through format, composition, cropping, focus on details, camera angles, the rhythm of "editing," or work with depth of field, light, and shadow.
While most contemporary painting exhibitions attempt to justify the medium through its traditional value, this project does the opposite. It suggests that painting today is "just" another type of monitor. Simultaneously, it remains true to itself and thus defends its own autonomy. The intergenerational background of the artists aims to show that film in painting is not just a matter for the older generation, but also concerns creators who naturally perceive reality through the lenses of their phones.
Even references to specific film sources do not represent a failure, but rather an admitted game of sampling. In today's post-internet era, no "pure" image exists. Everything comes from somewhere. Acknowledging a specific filmic source is a statement, not a lack of invention. Today, an image is created through visual memory and the database of film history. The artist is a receiver and a processor who transforms the reality of film into another medium. For them, film is what the landscape was for the Impressionists—a model.
At a time when visual culture churns out vast quantities of disposable digital images—which are almost immediately exhausted by rapid trends and algorithmically driven stereotypes—this exhibition recalls something essential: that cinematic language still carries a different weight, depth, and capacity for meaning. Film is not just another source of visual stimuli, but a structured way of thinking about the image, offering painting a sense of solidity where the digital stream tends to dilute.
Freeze Frame? shows that painting can not only reflect film but, in the background, reactivate its intensity—thereby defining itself against the visual inflation that overwhelms us daily. Therein lies its uniqueness: in the courage to remind us that an image can provide more than immediate consumption. And that sometimes, a single frozen frame is enough to outweigh an infinite digital loop.
