Specters of Reality

How do we perceive the world around us? What lies beyond the boundaries of our knowledge? Where does reality end and illusion begin? The Specters of Reality exhibition invites us to re-evaluate our perceptions and examine our thoughts on the meaning of reality. Jan Soumar and Matej Štetiar's works combine figuration and abstraction, fragments and wholeness, creating an open space for personal interpretation.

Jan Soumar paints from memory. The fragments of figures and inner landscapes that he depicts are not faithful records of reality; they are distorted, disintegrated and then reassembled to resemble a stream of changing memories. His works represent order in chaos, with individual elements coming together in unexpected ways to create new meanings and inviting the viewer to make their own connections.

Matej Štetiar works with abstract, amorphous forms stemming from his inner experience. His paintings resemble a visual Rorschach test – each viewer can discover different shapes and associations. Štetiar's work creates a space between dream and reality, between the concrete and the imaginary, enabling viewers to enter their own mental constructs.

In their own ways, both authors demonstrate that reality is not fixed, but fleeting and dependent on the inner self and personal experiences. Their works encourage us to explore the hidden and the intangible, and that which remains beyond the boundaries of ordinary perception. Together, we discover the space between the visible and the invisible, and between reality and possibility.

The Spectres of Reality exhibition offers an opportunity to explore fragments, amorphous shapes and hidden meanings; to find order in chaos; to interpret images as projections of the inner self; and to be swept away between dream and reality. Each piece of art invites personal interpretation, posing questions without clear answers and prompting observation of that which often remains hidden.

Where does the world we see end and the world we imagine begin?