Jakub Špaňhel: Petrol Stations
Edition Samiel n. 2 / Graphic album of five lithographs
Edition: 50 numbered and signed pieces
Year of issue: 2007 / Size of paper: 500 × 700 mm.
Introduction by Edith Jeřábková / Translated by Bára Štefanová and Keith Jones
Print: Petr Korbelář / Folder: The Bindery of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
Print of the title sheet and printing on the folder: The Graphic workshops of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
Price: 12 000 Kč / Order: info@gkk.cz
The series of graphic sheets entitled Benzínky (Petrol Stations) is loosely linked to the artist's larger cycle concerning petrol stations, created during the years 2005 and 2006. Jakub Špaňhel here continues his personal "tendency", which he defined early: while still a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, under the tutelage of Jiří David and Milan Knížák. Petrol Stations is to some degree a reaction to the early series of churches that first won the artist recognition. Once again the subject concerns architecture, but now as a constituent part of the contemporary landscape, in which it is fully integrated. In opposition to the earlier sacral verticality, it is placed within the profane horizontal - an open space in opposition to the interior, which brings about not only a mental shift, but also a solution to newer pictorial problems which the artist regards as important. On this level his petrol stations define the opposite pole to the very beginnings of Modernism as found in the work of J. M. W. Turner, or James McNeill Whistler. With their atmospheric Romanticism, these can be seen as part of a tendency towards a loosening of the brushstroke, developing from the moods of Caspar David Friedrich. If we wanted to attach a name to Špaňhel's own style, we would most probably opt for the hybrid Romantic Expressionism. It is here that a viable connection of the form and content of the work takes place. A petrol station, enshrouded in atmospheric quasi-darkness or a filter-induced mist streaked with passionate flashes of light is a place of unexpected encounters, emotional stories, a place for Lynchesque or Tarantino-like plot twists, and the destination of many road-trip experiences, both filmic and in real life. It is an oasis whose specific surroundings of drive-in areas flanked by characteristic flora are enough to satisfy specific needs, public as well as private, while on the road (just as with the churches previously, in fact). However, everything here is as provisional and frivolous as a Rococo carnival. The theme of the series naturally reflects also the artist's private moments: a decade-long desire to possess a driving licence, his trips to Ostrava with friends in the passenger seat, and other unknown adventures. The "Beautiful Petrol Station" sounds amorous and poetic, like an opera title, expressing a similar love for the urban periphery such as we know from Group 42, or the Pop art visions of Ed Ruscha. On the outset, one might have been surprised by the artist's open embracing of the Baroque, and by his Expressionistic qualities - but his present Romantic re-reading of Civilism is just as surprising.
Edith Jeřábková
Jakub Špaňhel (1976) is one of the top Czech young artists, his remarkable work was known already when he was studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (studios of Jiří David and Milan Knížák). Despite of his age he had already solo shows in important Czech museums of art (2003, City Gallery Prague / Galerie hlavního města Prahy; 2005, Jakub Špaňhel, Jonáš Czesaný, National Gallery, Prague; 2007, Galerie Klatovy / Klenová), and participated in some key exhibitions of contemporary Czech paintng (2003/2004, Perfect Tense, Prague Castle; 2004, Malíři 03 /Painters 03/, Galerie Klatovy / Klenová; 2004, Intercity: Berlín - Praha, Mánes, Prague; 2006, Wannieck Gallery, Brno).
His original style has two separated aspects. The first one is an expressive and realistic way how he paints some factual motive in his genuine style. The second one is minimalist and it's about repeating patterns with using a paint roller.
