Mila Mila Void 826

Jan Kaláb is one of the most prominent figures on the contemporary Czech art scene. He was among the pioneers of Prague’s graffiti and street art scene and, in 2006, initiated the establishment of Trafačka, an independent art centre of which he was a co-founder. His current practice continues to build on his street art beginnings, encompassing painting, sculpture, spatial objects and installations. The defining elements of his work are shape and colour, their mutual relationships, and the tension between surface and space. An important milestone in his career was his participation in the Metropolis project at the Czech Pavilion at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai. Kaláb has also established a significant international presence, exhibiting in New York, London, Paris, Miami, Seoul, Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro, among other cities, and his works are represented in numerous international public and private collections.

“Mila Mila Void 826 is a relief canvas from the Voids series. The inner spatial form creates a counterpoint to the painting’s outer elliptical silhouette, together forming two perfectly stretched surfaces across which light and shadow glide. The pictorial space is thus not merely illusory but becomes a physical part of the work itself. The colour gradient is based on a sunset I witnessed in the hills near the village of Mila Mila, where, while tracking forest elephants, I observed an intense red light falling across the deep green slopes. The resulting contrast between light and vegetation gradually shifted into deep, dark tones, their colour almost dissolving into indeterminacy. In the painting, this moment is transformed into a chromatic space poised between a specific experience and abstraction.”

100% of the hammer price will be donated to support the Save-Elephants project, a non-profit initiative that has brought together nine leading Czech artists. During their second expedition to the Congo, which took place in February of this year, the artists drew inspiration for a unique collection comprising paintings, photographs, and an original photographic journal complemented by drawings created by members of the expedition.