Jakub Nepraš (CZ) → Moth

About project

The old traditional face of city centres is changing, nowadays it is only wearing a tempting mask inviting mainly tourists and nouveau riche. In the background, obscure deals in casinos are silently being made, drugs, prostitution, mafia structures and crime. Overpriced rents and other commercial interests are gradually chasing away original inhabitants and ingenuous culture. The genuine spirit of the places is dribbling out and only their ornamental layer remains, an attractive camouflage nurtured by far-reaching tradition and present-day consumerism. Here, this emotion takes the shape of a moth nestling under an arch of a well-known bridge. Its thin wings somehow try to conceal themselves too, but often the real world, spasmodically breaking through the weakened camouflage, seeps through.

Artist

A graduate of the School of Monumental Art and New Media of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Jakub Nepraš has been exhibiting his work since 1992 at numerous international exhibitions, important collections (Nanjing Biennale, Gwangju Biennale Korea, Expo 2010 Shanghai, Museum Colecção Berardo Lisbon, SIART Biennale Bolivia, Essl Award, and more), and international festivals (ARS Electronica, SPARK Minneapolis, Transmediale Berlin, Videonale 12 Bonn). In his work, he operates on the conviction that the over-technologized world literally creates a “second nature,” which he freely transforms using his videopaintings into unique and humorous microcosms.