In the 1990s, Zdeněk Beran’s studio of classical painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague gave rise to a generation of artists employing various types of realistic expression. The success of Beran’s students, including Hynek Martinec and Karel Balcar, proves that a return to traditional painting can constitute an inspiring step forward.
For his exhibition at the Pro arte Gallery Jan Gemrot (1983) prepared a series of oil paintings dedicated to an examination of the malleable relationship between the conscious and the unconscious. A certain subtleness of expression provides the viewer with the opportunity to participate in the pictorial narrative; after all, an unfinished story induces a powerful emotional response. Gemrot’s works transgress and intentionally violate the boundaries of reality in order to formulate different means of perception, i.e. new horizons.