The exhibition will present a series of paintings focusing on the world of adolescents, their feelings of alienation and vulnerability. The topic of children's mental health has recently been appearing in the media, in sociological and psychological research, pop culture, and the film industry. Analyses examine whether the minds of adolescents are more affected by toxic social networks or global threats such as war, climate change, or technology. Or is it the fault of absent parents or a lack of free time? Aware of these challenges and using symbols referring to childhood, the artist creates nostalgic images calling for security, friendship, and love. However, this longing is disrupted in the paintings, and instead of joyful youth, a fragile feeling of unattainability remains.

Martina Drozd Smutná understands her artistic work as a language through which she can talk about intimacy, vulnerability, and the everyday nature of personal stories, which do not stand isolated but are determined by socio-political phenomena. In her paintings, she shows how family, partner, and professional relationships are shaped by traditional gender roles. Her paintings cross the boundaries between the past, the present, and an apocalyptic future, in which the desire for change is mixed with disciplined inertia, the tension between power and powerlessness. Her predominantly figurative paintings are linked by the theme of social norms and expectations that we fulfil in our lives. The artist is interested in depicting social phenomena such as uncertainty and fear in a society where many people are unable to satisfy their basic needs.

About the artist: Martina Drozd Smutná works with painting on both a practical and theoretical level. During her doctoral studies at the Academy of Fine Arts she focused her research on the origins and consequences of the use of gender-based evaluation. She was the laureate of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award 2022, participated in the residency program at the Yzolyatsia cultural center in Kiev, the Czech Center in Bucharest, or the Matadero Madrid. She exhibited individually and in group exhibitions on the Czech scene (for example, at the Youth Gallery in Brno, the Gallery Dole in Ostrava, the National Gallery, or the NOD in Prague) and also abroad (Kunsthalle Trafo in Szczecin, the Baltic Triennial in Lithuania, or the Exile Gallery in Vienna).

Curators: Zuzana Štefková, Lenka Kukurová

The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague and the Municipal District of Prague 7. Media partners of the project are Artmap and Radio 1. The co-organiser of the opening is the Foundation and Centre for Contemporary Art.

Photo of the exhibition at Artwall: Martin Micka