ARTIST PROFILE

Katarina Janečková Walshe

  • b. 1988

REPRESENTATION

CONTACT & LINKS

ARTIST INFO

ARTIST STATEMENT

For me the bear is a substitute for a man. Sometimes I depict bear as a lover, voyeur, playful cub, perverted old bear or as a symbol of protection. It's also for my own amusement. I love to create stories and relationships between figures I paint. As for a woman, it's natural for me to identify with the women I paint and it was never really important for me to paint an actual face of a man, unless it's someone I have some feelings for. I paint those bears simple, as a strange dark figure, because it allows you to use your fantasy. Maybe hail memories and different experiences in life. Everyone can have different stories or feelings trying to read the painting. Monolithic black surface of the bear also gives my eye a place to rest among all colours and wild brush strokes of the painting.


I always enjoyed depicting the women in my paintings as dominant and strong in relationships. It's almost a stereotype to think that pretty women are usually submissive or or not very smart, so I like to play around that. Sometimes it's less visible and more in my head, sometimes it's obvious or exaggerated, like in the series with bodybuilders. There are symbols in my painting which come and go as my life changes. When I used to do Muai Thai, I painted a lot of boxing gloves, or latex masks when I was younger and fascinated by different fetishes.

                                                         ~2015~

When I moved to USA, I was lonely, looking for things to do in this small Texas town where I live and the gym was the only active option. As I observed the gym culture, cult of the body, my ideal of female beauty was changing. I suddenly started appreciating six pack, big strong thighs and so on. On the other hand it was funny to watch how women go crazy, showing off on the social media and sharing pictures of their butts after squatting. So I work with all of that in my paintings, showing admiration and respect to those women bodybuilders, and also playing on the irony the unhealthy commitments engaged in by those seeking to be “fit”.

                                                           ~2016~
 
In my latest works I got back to relationships - a common subject, quite easy to turn into a cliché, nevertheless I still don't feel like it's outworn yet, since everyone is thinking about relationships in a different way. After I got married I've been wondering if it's even good for an (woman) artist to get married, if it's even possible to be a young ambitious painter but still a good wife, waiting for the husband with the dinner. Those thoughts were leading me to different fantasies,  creating stories and finding the answers during the process of painting. In the end they are probably not as important to be told loud to explain my paintings as they are for myself and my future work and life.

                                                            ~2017~
                                                  (work in progress)

In my newest works and the real life as well what interests me the most are the differences and similarities of the worlds I live in (Europe vs. USA, or Texas vs. New York, or the border of Texas with Mexico). In my fantasy I would like to make these 'worlds' find a common ground. Growing up in Europe and spending a major time of the year in South Texas I often find myself in challenging situations and conversations  (current political situation, refugees, nudity, religion, sexual orientation, guns), which are teaching me how to listen, understand, stand for an opinion but stay open minded in the same time. The narrative of my recent work is about observing these differences and trying to embrace them - even with a (necessary) bit of an irony. The recent works are mostly stories based on my experiences of the life close to the border, fantasies and facts about why do Texans still wear cowboy boots and hats, why do they hunt and fish, how much it takes for me to be a part of it or if a Texan cowboy can ever find an understanding in the friendship with a New York graphic designer :-)



BIOGRAPHY

Biografia:

Katarína Janečková sa narodila 2. mája 1988 v Bratislave. 2004-07 študovala na ŠÚV, na oddelení propagačného výtvarníctva. 2007-2013 na Vysokej škole výtvarných umení v Bratislave v 4. Atélieri maľby u prof. Ivana Csudaia. 2013 štúdium ukončila diplomovou prácou prezentovanou v opustených kúpeľoch Grössling.  

Absolvovala rezidenčné pobyty: Egon Schiele Art Centrum v Českom Krumlove (2011), GO-GO PROJECT / A 24H RESIDENCY, AWA, Amsterdam (2012), Česko-slovenské hvězdy, Litomyšl (2013).

Samostatne vystavovala:

How To Make a Bear Fall in Love, STUDIO D'ARTE RAFFAELLI, Trento 2016; SALMON LOVERS, Galerie WOLFSEN, Denmark 2015;  Bears, Catastrophes and other everyday events, NOVA Galerie, Praha (2015); What I Really Do?, CIN-CIN gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia (2015); So Many Fish, So Little Time, SOGA, Bratislava 2014; Lost and Found, Between Heaven and Ground, Kúpele Grössling, Bratislava (2013), SLOVAK GOODIES (s E. Binderom), Overtoom 301, AWA, Amsterdam (2012); Lone Wolf, Cub and World Champion (spolu s A. Dúbravským a M. Fabianom), SOGA (2012); Bakalárka (s A. Dúbravským), Photoport, Bratislava (2011); Štetec a Bič / Brush and Bitch (s A. Dúbravským), Tranzit, Bratislava (2010).

Jej diela boli zastúpené na zahraničných prezentáciách (výber):

Inaugural Show, Allouche Gallery, New York (2017, 2016); ACT, Nova Galerie, Praha (2016); Arte Fierra Bologna, Studio D’Arte Raffaelli, Bologna, Trento (2017, 2016); Art Herning, Galerie Wolfsen, Herning, Denmark (2017, 2016); THE INFIDELS, La Trampa Gallery, Mexico city (2014); On The Threshold, Jiří Švestka Gallery, Berlín, (2011); Volta Show, Jiří Švestka Gallery, Bazilej (2011); Kick off, Dvorak Sec Contemporary, Praha, (2011).

2017- 2nd place at Gruppo Euromobil Award / Premio Under 30, Arte Fiera Bologna

V roku 2012 sa stala finalistkou ceny VÚB maľba roka, v súťaži obsadila tretie miesto.