Jakub Uksa
Painter and graphic artist Jakub Uksa (*1981) belongs to a strong generation of Prague writers (OBIC) who entered the graffiti scene in the mid-1990s. His relationship to writing, and his clearly defined form, is due to the study of applied graphics.Almost from the beginning, he drew inspiration from the creations of strong ancient and oriental cultures. He consistently created his work without sketching, in an intuitive freestyle. He perceived his work as a graphic puzzle, with the head always working a few moves ahead. The last rationally placed line would logically close the piece without the need to add any more artistic elements. In addition to the overall shape, he also experimented with the "nervousness" of the line, its width and multiplication. Sometimes it reached the edge of the pictogram. He exhibited his first canvases in 2015. These were precise, self-contained schemes with geometrizing morphology, which developed his realizations in public spaces. Other views brought color changes, including metallic shades, and attempts to open the planar structure to the third dimension. If the first paintings were just fragments of his pieces, today he sees the clean canvas as an unexplored continent. For him, the hanging picture functions as a whole, but he still focuses on every line. His work is a developed mental path and a conditioned process. Jakub Uksa's compositions deceive. While they can evoke a sense of engineered purpose, they also include improvisations and mysteries. In addition, he currently encodes elements of personal mythology into them through specific colors and shapes. The same is true of the Sequence Travel exhibition, which looks at his work from the last few years. Some images refer to journeys through Lapland or Indonesia, others note the experience of cosmic events related to our planet, others turn to more general existential considerations - questions of transience, the spiritual realm and thinking about moving through time. Emphasis on the subjective dimensions of the painting also brought about a conceptual change. The formal execution became a language. The line is no longer the main bearer of the story but becomes a capillary, a sign of identity, while meaning comes from the coloristic component that opens the theme. The mental departure from a certain form (graffiti) towards content painting has come to an end.
Exhibitions
2022
Wall Street, Villa Pelle, Prague
2021
CAN/VAS, GAMP, Plzeň
2020
SEQUENCE TRAVEL, The Chemistry Gallery, Prague
2018
ART URBAIN, Czech Embassy, Paris
2017
Passion, The Chemistry Gallery, Prague
CREWNÍ OBRAZ, OGV, Jihlava
2015
X-BOB, GAVU, Cheb
VIEWS, The Chemistry Gallery, Prague
Horizon Events, The Chemistry Gallery, Prague
2012
Shoot When You Can, The Chemistry Gallery, Prague
Obsessed with the city, Gallery of the Capital City of Prague, Prague
Cosmopolite Art Tour Festival, Brussels
2010
Mural Art project, Prague
Invasion Event, Trafo Gallery, Prague
Visio Art Gallery, Pilsen
Berlin Meeting, Czech Embassy, Berlin
2009
Obic and Boy, Trafo Gallery, Prague
2008
Names Fest, Prague