Kryštof Hošek: Omne Animal

In the Nová síň Gallery, from September 2 to 13, 2026, there will be a solo exhibition by the prominent Czech sculptor Kryštof Hošek titled OMNE ANIMAL.

Kryštof Hošek (*1984) is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, in the studio of figurative sculpture (prof. Jan Hendrych, academic sculptor Peter Oriešek). In his sculptural work, he primarily focuses on figurative themes, combining hyperrealistic precision with dreamlike and mystical overtones. His allegorical and mythological subjects featuring demons, chimeras, melancholic sufferers, and subversive femme fatales draw on the tendencies of symbolism and decadence of the 19th century. He enriches these with psychological motifs of existentialism, as well as postmodern elements of satirical pop art. His sculptural realizations, despite their humorous detachment, are often acerbically critical. The author exhibits both domestically and internationally. His works have been presented in galleries such as DOX, Portheimka, GASK, BOLD, The Chemistry gallery, and the National Gallery in Prague, among others. The title of the exhibition is inspired by a poem of the same name by the leading figure of Czech decadence at the turn of the 19th century, Jiří Karáska ze Lvovic. It is a fragment from the Latin saying "Post coitum omne animal triste," meaning "Every living creature is sad after sexual intercourse." In his zoological garden of chimeras and anthropomorphized creatures, Kryštof Hošek paradoxically avoids sexuality and, following the example of Paul Verlaine, prefers suggestion over color. An exception is the sculpture group of copulating rats titled Revolution Evolution!. Coitus is meant to create new life, but the mating rats symbolize the triumph of plague and destruction. The psychoanalytic drive of life, Eros, competes here with the drive of death, Thanatos, just as in Karásková's poem: "I feel, as if I would sleep tonight with a corpse / – with a corpse, a cold, grinning corpse..." Hybrids of man and animal represent a demonic product of perverse desire. Not only sexual desire but also the desire for property, beauty, and power. The animal is a mirror of man, in which we can observe our wrongdoings. Hošek's Narcissus gazes not towards the heavens but at the reflection of his own face. Perhaps together with J. H. Krchovský, he egodeistically calls out: "Who else but me? I am my own god!" There is also a connection to the philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe, who described man as a tragic animal that has gained more consciousness than it can bear. His intellect can ultimately become an evolutionary trap, like the overly long fangs of saber-toothed tigers. In the exhibition, Hošek has departed from current political issues and focuses on "eternal" themes such as the human soul and the finiteness of life. Returning to historicizing bronze, he becomes a time traveler, wandering ahasverically from one era to another. He oscillates between biblical and ancient myths, which he updates and modernizes. An important inspiration for the author is also E. A. Poe and his contrasting clash of cold reason with despair and darkness in the works The Gold Bug and The Raven. Hošek has transformed these into sculptures titled Great Mother and Carpe Diem, where the raven sits on the skull of Death instead of the head of the goddess of wisdom, Pallas. Death in the sculptural cycle Language of Gestures becomes a hyperobject. Not the death of an individual, but death as an all-pervasive ether of destruction, present in every plant, animal, and human. It is non-local, viscous, and far exceeds the scale of life of every creature. Perhaps that is why sadness comes after sexual intercourse, for in the procreation of life, there is also the mourning and burial of it. Nevertheless, the exhibition does not evoke fear of death in us but teaches us to look beyond its horizon with a smile and a raised middle finger. The author does not stare into the abyss of memento mori, nor does he hedonistically seek earthly memento vivere. He turns his gaze to the heavens, where a skeletal finger points to There is more, inspired by da Vinci's painting of St. John the Baptist. Kamil Princ (curator of the exhibition)