Adam Šakový

The exhibition In the Beginning was Fire is the first solo presentation in Prague of the Slovak painter Adam Šakový, whose work is based on realistic depiction combined with post-conceptual thinking. His artistic program is driven by a fascination with the medium of painting and a systematic exploration of strategies for displaying and interpreting visual information.

A new series of oil paintings and sculptures, thematically grounded in the semantics of fire, opens up intimate and social themes that Šakový communicates in a universal visual language using metaphors, personification or working with the symbolism of motifs. Moving between stylised still lifes and figurative compositions, he creates imaginative situations, exploring emotions, archetypes of behaviour and interpersonal relationships. The works move from feelings of calm, to subtly growing uncertainty, to unsettling scenes embedded in an environment where time has stood still.