Špaňhel Jakub *1976

Flower, 20

oil, gold pigment, canvas, 90 × 60 cm, signed on the reverse Jakub Špaňhel, 90 × 60 "Flower" 2008
Jakub Špaňhel (b. 1976), a graduate of the studio of Jiří David and Milan Knížák at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, has since the beginning of the new millennium profiled himself as a distinctive painting talent who has established himself on the Czech art scene with his monumental and gestural paintings demonstrating a sovereign mastery of the painting medium. The theme of Špaňhel's paintings, often based on photographic reproductions, have become several recurring motifs associated with traditional and historical artistic genres that have been forgotten for some time in contemporary art. These include a series of temple interiors, floral still lifes, landscapes, nudes, as well as themes associated with contemporary urban environments with motifs of gas stations or bank buildings. The unifying element of the paintings is Špaňhel's painting technique, with which he creates illusion of space through rapid and spontaneous gestural painting. By using colour accents, such as gold pigments, in an otherwise more or less monochromatic paintings, Špaňhel achieves a specific radiant luminosity of the works, reminiscent of the work of the old masters.