20.1.2023 – 4.2.2023, opening 19.1.2023 6pm.

The vision of the history of art, which through progress and a dialectical alternation of styles was meant to lead to the goal of some kind of self-fulfilment (or nirvana), culminated in conceptual art, the boundaries of which led to a conception of art as either an all-embracing reality or conversely an aspiration to erase it completely (which, strictly speaking, is one and the same). In the main, the contemporary artistic operation that we have been left with no longer seeks ultimate answers to questions of the ontological nature of art. It functions rather as a kind of kayak, which negotiates the choppy waters of the of the present crises and continually searches for utopian and dystopian islands on which it can disembark for a moment.
This dynamic mutability creates a position of topicality, but also elusiveness as a continually opening and closing door. Some suspect that knowledge or the activation of these themes is the most important tool for the capitalisation of artistic production. This necessity to respond to a certain institutional demand may cause whoever perceives this emphasis on themes as trends negatively to experience a state of burnout, rejection or disappearance.

In the exhibition Hole Address, using a series of artefacts Adam Vít and Sofie Tobiášová present a humorous commentary of this state of longing for escape. They refer to the performance art of Bas Jan Ader, who disappeared forever during the course of his artistic attempt to sail the Atlantic on a four-metre boat named Ocean Wave. Art theorists continue to argue about the true intention of this gesture to this day. Nobody knows exactly whether it was suicide, an accident or an artistic intention consisting in total disappearance. Whichever theory is ultimately true also depends on the perspective with which we approach similar moments in the history of art; either with wonder or on the contrary with a disbelieving shake of the head. For Adam and Sofie it is a door of admitted failure that Bas Jan Adler opened, which is perhaps the only possible way out of our present situation.

The exhibition is open daily except for Sunday from January 20th 2023 to February 4th 2023.

The project is realised with the financial support of the Capital City of Prague. Prague, the Prague 3 Municipal District, the Ministry of Culture and the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic. Thank you for your support.