Stanislava Kovalcikova Cautionary Tales

28 May-26 Aug 2020

Overview

Kovalcikova montages figures in boundless scenes suggestive of recurring nightmares, their ghost-like features fixed in pastel and oil bars. Drawn to the techniques of the Old Masters and using a palette of umber, crimson and jade, Kovalcikova’s canvases reference the canonical paintings of Giorgione, Titian and Velásquez, her subjects’ longing gazes offering a similar mystique to those of the Renaissance muses. Quite often her protagonists are looking away – rarely at the observer, and each at something different – their haunting expressions suggestive of our dual personalities and inner demons, too. A recurring theme of Kovalcikova’s paintings is how perceptions and representations of the female body – and, less particularly, of women in general – have shifted over time. While echoing Manet’s Olympia and Bonnard’s bathers, her eye is drawn to portraying women with a much more complex curiosity, which tackles motherhood, pregnancy and beauty.