JAN KALÁB

INTERVIEW // LIZ RICE MCCRAY

When Jan Kaláb was born in 1978 in Czechoslovakia, graffiti was not to be seen in the Eastern World. In the nineties, as the country was opening itself to western influences, he be-came one of the pioneers of the local scene, and founded an iconic crew, the DSK. Sleepless nights around train yards, light tubes at police stations, and above all, hard work on his style: he went through all the classical steps of a writer’s career. Through Europe, he made a name for himself as Cakes. Next step to the hall of fame, New York, where he made a big impression by painting entire cars in 2000, alongside with Key and Rome. Around the same time, he found a new way to push his own limits and challenge himself: 3-D Graffiti. Under the name of “Point,” he sculpted huge abstracts letters he chose to put in the streets and on the walls. The higher the better. This was another form of graffiti, in daylight, and without a spray, but truthful to the spirit of competition and innovation of the urban scene. Those sculptures lead him to abstraction, a path he’s been exploring through canvas from 2007, using acrylic painting and brushes. In the meantime, this admirer of Kupka graduated from the Academy of fine Arts of Prague – becoming the first Czech writer to do so. Jan Kaláb had his first solo exhibition in 2008 in Prague. Others solos took place in Romania, Argentina, Germania or in the United States. With time, his forms became more and more geometric. He used colorful squares and circles as an obsessive vocabulary for infinite variations around depth, time, and motion. Playing with circles conveyed organic imperfection and swing into his work. Dynamic is also crucial in his recent experiments, when he took pictures of some of his paintings in the streets of New York or other cities. The project became a social one when he realized he needed help from strangers to carry the canvas. This is no surprise, since collective energy is crucial in his creative process.

You are currently in San Francisco for your solo exhibition Perspective of Clouds at the Mirus Gallery (www.mirusgallery.com) May 18th to June 9th, will you tell us about the body of work in the show and the emotions you are feeling right now?
I’m super excited about having my first solo show in California. I’m showing a new series of paintings and one sculpture. I call these paintings “Clouds” because of their shape. I play around with color gra-dients, which represents the sky. I would describe them as sky landscapes. Each has number, which is a certain time of the moment on my imaginary sky.

I’m curious where are you at this very moment while I’m interviewing you? Will you describewhere you are right now, this way everyone reading along can imagine the setting.
I’m sitting in the apartment of the gallery in Lower Haight Street where I have stayed the whole time over here. Sipping green tea. All the bags are packed, because I’m leaving back to Prague today.

What mediums do you work in, will you explain to us your creative process and the collectiveaspect of your work?
I work with acrylic paint on my paintings. These pieces are sprayed with spray gun airbrush. The spe-cial thing is the custom shape canvases that we build in my studio and it is very important part of the piece itself. All are painted in my Prague studio.

The sculpture is made out of fiberglass/resin. I have a project with my paintings which I call Art in Public. I take my paintings to the streets and ask passing by strangers to hold the paintings for me in perspective of the street. I photograph the situation. It is funny to meet all kinds of people and get to know the city from a different perspective. I began to photograph my paintings in streets of Manhattan three years ago. This year I did it in SF and LA.

You travel back to Prague Today. Do you have any upcoming projectsyou can share with us? When will you be back in the United States?
My next solo show is in US again. It will take place in Polasek museum in Or-lando. There is a gallery and nice gardens where I would like to exhibit some more sculptures. The opening is on August 28. Than I have another show in Hong Kong in September, and than another one in Prague in November.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. We loveyour work. Have a wonderful opening. Dear reader, to see more of Jan Kaláb art go to www.jankalab.com and if you happen to be in S.F. check out his show.