Jul 31 | '08 | Felix Figura Gallery
The rather inconspicuous gallery Felix Figura, situated near Kampa in the Prague neighborhood of Lesser Town, is both an oasis and a still-life in its own right and is definitely worth visiting. It exhibits and sells contemporary Czech as well as foreign fine arts, displaying the works in an intimate, “residential-like” space imbued with the characteristic Lesser-Town atmosphere. From September, visitors will have the chance to encounter here the imaginary world of paintings by Thérèse Van de Moortele and to join her on her travels through the landscapes of architectures built both on dry land and sea; to wander through endless, mysterious interiors; to follow paths outlined by staircases, ladders and rods, and try to find where they run into – along with only a few human figures who had gone stray into them. The artist has been developing the integrity of her own personality and the harmony of her attitude to life through her wanderings in seemingly real landscapes that await her beyond the frame of her canvases, similarly as the wonderland beyond the mirror awaited Alice. In her paintings, she confronts us with the challenge to set off on this journey full of mysteries, pitfalls, blind alleys… Whether with people or alone, we look up to the imposing, monumental interiors, sometimes absolutely perfect, another time half-desolated… We climb staircases and ladders and rods up to windows and plateaus under high blue sky to look down or peep into other, distant worlds – and we do not ask about the way down. Sometimes we solely admire from a distance the albeit elaborate and perfected, but deserted buildings whose sense and purpose escape us, and we are overwhelmed by the desire to get closer to them, at least on water on a boat with yard, or to enter the half-opened gate towards the mysterious city on a horizon. Those who once set off with Thérèse Van de Moortele to her inner landscapes cannot get disentangled from them and must return to them again and again to explore more and more indicated paths… And as they wander, they also start to understand the labyrinths of their own lives. Thérèse Van de Moortele CHEMINEMENTS INTÉRIEURS – INNER WANDERINGS Felix Figura Gallery Prague 1, Všehrdova Street 19 26 September – 17 October 2008 Open daily except Mondays, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Phone: +420 603 290 531
