The exhibition of Daniela Chrienová presents a selection of works that reflect the fluid character of natural and urban environments. They are painted transcriptions of photographs, paused films, and videos which the author uses to interpret the constantly changing and rather dynamic present world.
The exhibition is centred on the theme of inconstancy and impermanence. Chrienová points to the crisis of values characteristic of our time, a time dominated by instability and, in particular, certain “liquidity”. The concept of liquidity was articulated by the Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who, among other topics, dealt with the issues of consumerism and globalism. Through the lens of the theory of liquid modernity and in characterising the nature of present-day society, he also defined the growing sense of insecurity, which he linked to the moral and value crisis of humanity. These ideas are also explored by Chrienová, who focuses mainly on the environmental context and the consumerist and superficial treatment of objects, as well as visual motifs.
In her latest collection, the Plastic Sea, Chrienová thematises water bodies polluted by plastic waste as a form of social critique and an appeal to consumerism preferred by the society, which has resulted in a global environmental crisis. The waste floating beneath the water surface has a certain aesthetic quality, but it is also an eloquent testament to today’s world, in which the lifespan of material objects is increasingly shortened. In the next series, the Imperfect Pictures of Perfection, the author interprets footage of destroyed outdoor advertisements in public spaces. She points to contemporary standards and evaluative frameworks in relation to the often unattainable ideal of beauty and the cult of the body. The Swimming Pool series portrays mostly abandoned swimming pools as a symbol of emptiness by using paused scenes from existing films and videos. By extracting the images from their original contexts and remediating them through painting, Chrienová distils the visual smog – she singles out one particular image from the visual stream on which she focuses her attention.
The exhibited series are linked by the theme of flow presented in various forms. The motif of flow is also referenced in the title of the exhibition. In the first series, the author’s focus is on waste that is being carried away by a stream of water. In the second, the focus is mainly on the excessive amount of visual stimuli, while the last series focuses on the water flow itself, an expression of the aforementioned inconstancy. In addition, Chrienová exposes her state of mind in regard to her creative process. She considers painting to be a means of certain deceleration and concentration within the context of a mental state of complete immersion into the act of creation. As a fundamentally slow medium capable of materializing ideas, painting is at the same time a certain act of resistance against the speed and superficiality of perception, as well as the enormous consumption that is actually their consequence. Another aim is to artistically comment on one of the symptoms of the present, namely visual saturation, which distorts the ability to perceive and concentrate and which causes emptiness.
Certain ambivalence in the treatment of themes is also evident in the use of artistic means. In her work, the author uses specific visual characteristics, such as ambiguity, illegibility, or blurriness, which she achieves by implementing secondary brushstrokes in the construction of the composition. In her most recent works, she has increasingly shown a swift, gestural painting, which she uses to give her works a more expressive energy. In relation to her work with colour, the element of chance is even more involved in the composition, emphasising the sense of flow and movement in terms of the painting process.
Daniela Chrienová (*1984, Zvolen) in 2003 – 2009 studied at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica at the Stanislav Balko’s Studio of Painting, where she completed her doctoral studies in 2012. In 2006, she completed an internship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland. She has presented her work at several individual and many group exhibitions in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, and Austria. She has been a finalist of the Maľba competition – VÚB Foundation’s Award (2012, 2014, and 2016). She lives and works in Banská Bystrica.
The founder of the Central Slovak Gallery is the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region.
Realised with the financial support of the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region.