Jakub Hošek's solo exhibition at the Kostka Gallery will present a selection of his works from the past 10 years. Hošek's works include abstracted or text-based visual decals of phenomena and symbols rooted in urban subcultures, whose ever-evolving formal language is transformed into Hošek's unique visual identity. Hošek, as a constant observer and initiator of progressive trends, was at the same time at the very beginning of a now influential (micro) trend in (not only) the Czech context, which is widely recognized as New Romanticism or Emo Romanticism. It is his paintings, which are originally based on post-internet aesthetics, that create a narrative concept of comic-horror stories which do not hide the warning elements of environmental crisis and anthropocene apocalypse. Although Jakub Hošek has been a long-term resident of MeetFactory in the past, this will be his first solo exhibition here. It is also intended as a thematic equivalent to the collective show Kingdom of Hex, which will run concurrently at the main gallery.

Jakub Hošek (*1979) is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he studied at the studio of painting under the guidance of Vladimír Skrepl. His work combines calligraphic techniques with street art chaos and graphic design. The influence of comics is evident, music posters and album covers. He creates images by filling in areas and overlapping shapes of complex stencils, which he often transforms into wall objects. The artist is part of A. M. 180, a Prague-based collective connecting the music and art scene. Jakub Hošek is winner of the Viennese Strabag Art Award, he appeared in the final of the STARTPOINT award and won the third Critics' Prize for Young Painting, and was nominated for the 2005 and 2007 Jindřich Chalupecký Award. He has completed several residencies including MeetFactory, MMCA in Seoul and the ISCP Institute in New York. At the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague together with Josef Bolf and Nik Timkova, he is the head of the Painting III studio.

Curator: Ján Gajdušek
Production: Petra Widžová

MeetFactory — Gallery Kostka