The Cave of Endemic Monsters

Exhibitions

In the exhibition with the somewhat mysterious and subtly horror-themed title “The Cave of Endemic Monsters,” the outstanding painter, typographer, graphic artist, designer, and musician František Štorm presents his current work. However, we do not encounter any monstrous or dangerous creatures in the exhibit. The boundless creativity of the artist has merely ventured into the fascinating world of endemic creatures, endangered species of animals or plants whose uniqueness lies in their exclusive presence in a single location in the world. They are so unique that none of us can tell whether the creatures appearing in Štorm’s projections are real or a pure product of his infinite imagination. This, however, is not that important, as what is purely fictional now might soon be discovered in the depths of the oceans or the impenetrable corners of the rainforest. Endemic creatures have occupied the artist’s mind for some time. In his current projections, paintings, and drawings, it is evident that compared to his earlier work full of dark and fantastical themes from the world of mysticism, spirituality, or horror, Štorm has recently been using a brighter, more positive, and lighter palette. Although allegories from the past often penetrate these new works, it seems that along with his endemic friends, the artist now primarily longs for light. For purification and awakening from all the dark information and events of recent years. He immerses himself in colors of dark turquoise, purple, and bright green. In the hedonistic intoxication of his spontaneous creation, he allows himself to be engulfed by all-encompassing nature. In connection with the exhibition at the bastion of the Josefov fortress, another entirely new inspiration has entered his work. The imperially brutalist architecture of the underground vaulted spaces, soaked with Habsburg military history and the spirits of all the emperors who passed through, has profoundly impacted the artist and reawakened a theme that has never entirely vanished from Štorm’s work – the theme of death. Death here, however, is not presented in its horror or as some explicit warning message. It appears in drawings as dead soldiers, dancing skeletons, or the artist’s favorite buns transforming into zombies, symbolizing the historical absurdity of human actions rather than instilling fear. The corpses of soldiers, as the ghosts of the fortress, crawl along the walls towards a window like towards the white light of nothingness at the end of the tunnel. The apocalyptic motif of Death riding a horse merges with a portrait of Franz Joseph transforming into the head of a peculiar bird. In other drawings, Franz Joseph and the likenesses of Maria Theresa and Joseph II. turn into strange insects or other creatures. This aesthetically grotesque yet somewhat unsettling Kafkaesque absurdity thus becomes a crucial motif of the entire exhibition, whose visual impact is further deepened by an original musical accompaniment.
Kristýna Jirátová,
curator

video: https://youtu.be/1v7tUkujpQU