27/6 - 13/9/2020

Zdeněk Lhotský’s work is characterized by a reduction in shape, which is reflected both in his sculptural expression and in his drawings. His previous exhibitions of drawings (e.g. the exhibition Glass and Drawings - BBLA Gallery New York 2017, Morzin Gallery in Vrchlabí, 2019) proved a deep inner discipline and a sophisticated method of using elementary symbols in order to achieve visually impressive compositions.

While in his previous drawings he left minimal possibility of rendomness, in the most recent ones he embarks on the path of intuitive drawing, in which he transforms situations, phenomena and relationships into abstract characters non-verbally. There is also a noticeable intensification of expressive moments in the drawings (if it is possible to say such a thing about abstract drawings at all), he shows an original imagination in them, he records sensitivity and inner feelings. He opens the window to his parallel world by abstract means, but at the same time he does not give up the intention to communicate with audience. They can thus look into his field of thought, into the personal and more natural dimension of his work. He brings surprising accents to the drawings - traces of the man presence, multi-layered and hidden meanings indicating unspoken secrets. He is still fascinated by space, but rather by the invisible one. From the previously disciplined obsession with geometries and logically organized structures, only fragments remain in the recent drawings. He combines them with new volume shapes, which he calls “machines,” or graphic symbols reminding a bizarre world filled with visual equilibristics.
Zdeněk Lhotský’s drawings are not without a context with other areas of his artistic interest. Sometimes they are a thought and germinal form of realization in glass. In the field of art glass, Lhotský has won the world-renowned position of the technology of molten glass expert, besides other things because he likes seeking and accepting challenges. He feels an urge to go against the mainstream and overcomes seemingly impossible when experimenting with other glass technologies that have become a natural part of his work, too. The exhibition in the Small Exhibition Hall in Liberec is complemented by interesting experiments with drawings and collages sealed in glass. They can act on the viewer as another author’s probe sent to the limits of abstraction intentionally. However, these are not primarily final works, but a material record of experiments that communicate thematically with the drawings.
It is typical for all of Zdeněk’s works that they lack any name. He rejects the view that the titles of the works will help to understand his artistic intent more easily. He leaves the viewer to the mercy of himself because he knows that abstraction is completely open to free interpretation.

Martin Hlubuček
2/6/2020