Me in a Nutshell
My name is Barbara Novorodá, but I was born as Barbara Váňová to my mother and my father in August 1994. At first, I was an all-embracing consciousness which gradually shrunk, and somewhere between primary and secondary school it was about pea sized. At that time, I believed that the civilized world in the Czech Republic ended at the border of Prague, and that the Western society was just about the best thing that ever happened to humankind. My life goal was to be very important and very pretty, therefore it did not come as a surprise when I joined the Faculty of Law in the year 2013.
At first I was very excited to be there, but something in me could not really cope. Very soon my consciousness (at that time only as big as a chia seed) could not stand it anymore and exploded in 2015. Meditation and expanded states of consciousness invaded my life, forcing me to reconsider all the pillars of my identity. I moved to a miniature village in the countryside of the Pilsen region, where I lived for several years only with my dog. And most importantly, basically from day to day I began to paint so intensely that spots of colour gradually covered all of my tangible assets (but not only mine).
I consider myself very lucky, because already in the 2017/18 academic year , I was given the opportunity to study painting in the studio of Ioannis Fokas at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. A year later, I joined the painting studio of Aleš Ogoun at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. In a very short time I came a long way. My journey began with pure ecstatic enthusiasm for colour, which was gradually accompanied by endless hours of precision exercise, for example by drawing hands (by which I would also like to say hi to my figure drawing teacher, Boris Jirků).
Regarding my work, over time the form of my paintings has changed (and continues to change) and at the very moment I am expanding from a two-dimensional surface of canvases into a three-dimensional space of installations, as well as into the realm of new media (video art, performance, etc.). In terms of content, my work often reflects personal experience through which I comment on general, and often controversial topics. Both travelling to foreign countries where I explore different cultures and taking trips to the forest near my cottage are a major inspiration to me. Like many an artist before me, I am on a quest for finding the limits of tolerance of the postmodern audience. I am not afraid to stand on the border of these limits and greet newcomers with various refreshments.
Education
2018 – now
painting studio of Aleš Ogoun at Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
2017/2018
one year Erasmus programme at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; painting studio of Ioannise Fokas
2013 – 2019
Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague, master’s degree
Exhibitions
December 2020
Solo exhibition in The Rough Times Gallery, Pilsen, Kopeckého sady Solo exhibition in The Rough Times Gallery, Prague, Náměstí míru
The Rough Times Gallery, 2020 >
November 2020
Pokoje 2020, group project named We are here, we are still here; exhibited in Hybernská Campus, Prague
We are here, we are still here, 2020 >
November 2019
Pokoje 2019, group project Comfort Zone, exhibited in Desfours Palace, Prague
June 2019
Exhibition named Mína is awesome, exhibited as a part of Rokycanské Koryto event, Rokycany
2021 © Barbara Novorodá
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