Let’s Hit The Road

Michal Škapa, also known by the pseudonym Tron, is one of the prominent figures of the Czech graffiti scene, from which his distinctive visual language has evolved. His work combines painting, murals, airbrush, graphic art, light objects and site-specific installations. He represented the Czech Republic at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, participated in the landmark Czech street art exhibition Stuck on the City at Prague City Gallery (2012–2013), and regularly presents his work in solo and group exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad.

The artist comments on the work:

“Let’s set off on a journey!” And so we did, finding ourselves in the distant Congo in Africa. And this was no ordinary journey. We spent a substantial part of the trip travelling in three Toyota Hilux vehicles, which took us across every kind of terrain. As we drove in and out of towns, an extraordinary film seemed to unfold before my eyes through the car window. Endless rows of stalls and shops line both sides of the roads leading into urban areas, gradually merging into the fabric of the towns themselves. These stalls and shops share several distinctive features. They glow with vivid colours and are often quite literally cobbled together from planks or sheets of crumpled metal. The term DIY aptly describes many of them. There are also permanent shops and service businesses, particularly the ubiquitous hair salons. What fascinated me about these establishments was the vernacular creativity and the hand-painted depictions of goods and services, which shopkeepers displayed as images painted directly onto the walls of their buildings. It was around these stalls, markets and shops, whether driving past or walking among them, that I came to feel that an important part of community life and social interaction takes place. I documented these surroundings carefully and drew on this material when creating the painting. Alongside the unique experiences of the natural landscape – the rainforest, savannah and rivers – travelling by car through towns and inhabited areas became a crucial source of inspiration for me. Here, too, I was reminded of the saying: “the journey is the destination!”

100% of the hammer price will be donated to support the Save Elephants project.