Tomáš Bárta

Tomáš Bárta is known primarily as a painter and draftsman in the tradition of modernist geometric abstraction (above all constructivism). However, he also finds inspiration in the contemporary world, environment and visual phenomena that surround him. Despite possessing an instantly recognisable style characterised by the fragmentation of form, the layering of structures, an architectonic morphology and the creation of his own graphic symbols, his work is constantly developing and changing. It can be divided into stages that end with a feeling of mastery of a particular method of work, and begin with a desire to discover something new. Whenever he attains self-confidence and mastery of a technique, he relinquishes it and searches for new possibilities of expression. He also experiments with different media, most often with acrylic or watercolour painting and with ink drawings, while sometimes he creates prints, collages or objects and installations. In his drawings especially an important role is played by the basic compositional layout, which he then, for the most part intuitively, elaborates on and subjects to further layers of structure or gesture. In most cases the basic layout resembles chaotic urban schedules disrupted by the incursion of living organisms. This aspect is observed in one of the texts devoted to Bárta’s work by Jiří Ptáček, who has been responsible for several of the artist’s exhibitions in the past: “Bárta’s drawings are intricate bushes that break through the ruins of the architectonic schedule.”

Bárta’s current paintings, on the other hand, are dominated by a unified, almost monumental means of expression that draws on strong layers of colour and stark contrasts. In several cases he uses cardboard or other materials that he places within the image. Geometric shapes are sometimes disrupted by an organic element, or are broken or torn down, and again the inspiration here is architecture and the modernist aesthetic. This feature of his work often sees him ranked alongside a group of young contemporary painters in the Czech Republic such as Vladimír Houdek, Tomáš Predka, Monika Žáková, Tomáš Absolon, et al. Jan Zálešák, who in 2012 curated Bárta’s exhibition Softcore at the Fait Gallery in Brno, also mentioned the artistic duo Vasil Artamonov and Alexey Klyuykov. At the same time, he also pointed to certain differences of approach: “For Tomáš Bárta the formalist process aimed at autonomous form remains important. The morphology of modernism in his case is not a sign of an inclination towards the current “historiographic turn”. It reflects more the present and its eclectic stylisation as a paradoxical process aimed at originality.”

A formally significant deviation from Bárta’s work of previous years was the installation presented at the exhibition Vnější nastavení / External Setup. The architecture of the installation, in which there were a black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings, was important, and came together to form a unified whole, with the drawings making reference to an iron mesh, network, or the constructions within reinforced concrete forming the skeletons of buildings, complemented by a simple installation made of basic construction materials, wooden frames, rods and rope, etc. However, Bárta again disturbed the regularity of the grid, flexing, breaking or tangling the lines in some places. The curator Jiří Havlíček wrote in the accompanying text: “On the surface of the paper the focus is transformed into an impenetrable tangle of lines. Light lines on a dark background intersect and overlap. They refer to what they also conceal.” The network is here conceived of as a basic building block that does not only have to be related to buildings, but can also serve as a philosophical metaphor in a broader sense.

Tomáš Bárta works slowly and in waves, with a patience that is clear especially in his layered drawings and watercolour paintings. He is often dissatisfied with his paintings, and this in turn motivates him to continue working on a particular technique. He does not want to tread water, but to try out new forms of expression and methods of presentation. The outcome might be a traditional exhibition with independent hanging paintings, or a conceptual installation.

Petr Dub: #NEO #GalerieNTK #zombieabstraction #autenticita #CarlGustavJung #OperaMathematica #czechgirls, Artalk.cz, 2015 (online: http://artalk.cz/2015/04/28/neo-galerientk-zombieabstarction-autenticita-carlgustavjung-opera-mathematica-czechgirls/) Anna Remešová: Čekání na comeback malby, Artalk.cz, 2012 (online: http://artalk.cz/2012/02/20/cekani-na-comeback-malby/) Veronika Ruppert: Forst Tomáše Bárty, rozhovor na Radiu Wave, 2012 (online: https://wave.rozhlas.cz/forst-tomase-barty-5269797) Martina Schneiderová: Óda na marnost, Artalk.cz, 2011 (online: http://artalk.cz/2011/11/16/oda-na-marnost/) Roman Štětina: Tomáš Bárta, rozhovor pro Český rozhlas, Radio Vltava (online: https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/tomas-barta-5142765) Lucie Poštolková: První rozsáhlejší výstava Tomáše Bárty na Chodovské tvrzi, Novinky.cz (online: https://www.novinky.cz/kultura/257870-prvni-rozsahlejsi-vystava-tomase-barty-na-chodovske-tvrzi.html)