Pavel Forman (1977) has the good fortune to fit very easily into the public's essentially romantic notions of artists. It is enough that his main means of expression is painting, until recently almost a pariah among artistic media. At least the fundamental proponents of painting felt this way about the situation. The end of painting has not yet taken place. It is, after all, the most traditional form of expression in the entire history of the visual arts.  All the more so for art lovers who don't visit galleries that often.

The artist's biography is also almost exemplary. He comes from one of the forgotten corners of our republic, the Sudeten town of Bruntál. The foothill town never coped with the removal of the German population and the new settlement. Before studying at the art department in Olomouc, he became acquainted with the Neue Wilde art group. From that moment on, the work of German painters became a reference for him, and it was already clear where the artist was going. In 2005, he began studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Universität der Künste in the capital of contemporary art, Berlin. Life in Berlin suited him so well that he stayed for seven years and still lives here at least part of the year.  When he is not living abroad on internships in various parts of Europe. Forman's literary activity also fits into this simplistic idea. When all this is summed up and a little bit of punk lifestyle is added to it, we have before us a prime example of the social idea of an artist.

Forman is quite comfortable with this position and enjoys working with it. Only how many times has he managed to smuggle his own likeness into his canvases or murals. On the other hand, he has no need to pander to the viewer in any way and keeps going about his business.
The work of the aforementioned New Wild group undoubtedly influenced Pavel's beginnings as a painter. And he has not given up the expressiveness typical of this group to this day.   Yet after his arrival in Berlin, a certain change took place.  It is not even about enlarging the format, more frequent use of sprays and stencils. Elements based on pop culture, previously rather rarer, began to prevail in Berlin. Even with the new flirtation with Pop Art and Socialist Realism, no matter what its provenance, it retained its characteristic handwriting.

He likes to draw on the visual side of the political propaganda of the 1930s in the Soviet Union or even the more involved work of Mexican muralists. Nor does he leave aside the current manifestations of propaganda from various parts of the world. It adopts some of the principles of socialist realism, especially the punchiness. With clear symbolism that can be read as well as an advertising message in a split second, he manages to catch the attention of even the most resistant viewer. If the tense gestures of the figures and dynamic compositions on posters or even on the walls of buildings usually encourage the only right political engagement, in Forman's work these means are used in a more subversive way. He lets the form parody itself.  He puts into it a mostly ironic "message". The scenes in the overpainted prints on canvas, spray paint over cut stencils and collages sometimes remind us of aimless internet surfing and the associated bombardment with a flood of various information. A whirlwind of images, symbols or even familiar faces of the 20th century will appear in front of you. 

In recent years, his work has been largely influenced by technology. Many of the paintings were created by overpainting printed canvases. He usually prepares the pictorial material for his prints on the basis of his own photographs, but quite a large part is based on photographs by Jindřich Štreit. In addition to the extensive set of paintings, Identity of Reality, which was created during this collaboration, Forman also created several collages from his photographs. The collages, unusually small in size for Pavel, with a rather subdued expressiveness, but with a carefully considered composition, were made during his residency in Denmark. As well as paintings created without a photographic basis after a long time. This is probably not the beginning of a new chapter in Pavel's work, but nevertheless the departure from prints and the return to pure painting, and perhaps the luxury of staying in one place for a longer period of time to concentrate, are quite pleasing to Forman. 

MARTIN FIŠR, exhibition curator