An artist seeking moments in landscape and civilisation when time briefly stands still.
Alena Anderlová (1977) a painter and graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1999 – 2005; Painting III Studio, School of Antonín Střížek; Painting III Studio, School of Prof. Michael Rittstein).
Based in Klatovy, she is active in Czech-German artistic exchanges and residencies. The mutually absurd intersections of nature and civilisation are among the main themes she has explored in her painting for many years.
Alena Anderlová’s painted world fits naturally into the Šumava foothill character of the Klatovy landscape. Rather than merging romantically with it, she finds scenes and settings for distinctive contemporary questions about people and nature. Like everything around us, this fateful relationship keeps changing.
Anderlová’s paintings often express humanity’s unwillingness to recognise its own place within the living planet and accept all the responsibility that reason entails. They also address human arrogance towards parallel natural and animal worlds, increasingly treated as civilisational, recreational, commercial or merely entertaining decoration.
Text by Petr Vaňous
I would like to invite you to my exhibition “Uprostřed gravitace” (In the midst of gravity) in Petrkov, running from 28.6. to 28.9.
10 questions for Alena Anderlová
What does the theme of speed and movement mean to you?
Movement has interested me for a long time. My paintings often record the “frozen movement” of cars, cyclists, motorcyclists, planes, animals or people.
How do you reflect on the relationship between art and motoring? Do you see this dialogue as aesthetic, conceptual or more historical and cultural?
Once cars and motorcycles appeared, they naturally began finding their way into paintings and films as an integral part of reality.
What makes the Speed Art exhibition unique for you?
The chance to see car models alongside paintings inspired by them.
Has sport or motorsport ever influenced your work?
I have regularly depicted motorsport and sport since 2002, when I was studying at AVU.
Who do you consider a prominent artist working specifically with motorsport?
The painter Theodor Pištěk comes to mind first; he also competed in motorsport.
What is your favourite “DREAM CAR” and automotive designer?
I like the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with its gullwing doors. There are many great designers.
Do you see your work at Speed Art as an individual statement or as part of a wider dialogue with the other exhibiting artists?
Both.
Which racing driver do you regard as the most significant figure in motorsport?
I have not thought about it, but I was struck by Niki Lauda’s story: he continued racing even after a terrible injury.
How do you see current trends in art in the context of technological progress? Does this development affect your own artistic thinking?
It makes me think about where all this will lead, both positively and negatively.
What are you working on now, and where can people see you?
I am preparing paintings for an exhibition at the Czech-French centre in Petrkov, on view from 28.6. to 28.9., titled Uprostřed gravitace (In the midst of gravity).
