Think + Feel Contemporary announced its inaugural Artist in Residence program with two Prague, Czech Republic -based artists - Jan Heres and Filip Svehla. They will work in-residence at the THINK+feel Contemporary gallery’s new premises, transforming the location into temporary artist studios. The program will run from February through the end of March 2022.

The TFC Artist in Residence program responds to our gallery’s mission to engage Central and Eastern European artists and forge new avenues of artistic cooperation across the continents, as well as, contribute to the development of the local Miami artistic community by supporting artists through this marked period of uncertainty.

While in residence, each artist will explore persistent themes in their work, the main focus of which for both artists happens to be identical - light. Therefore, the overarching theme or topic of the residency is In Search of Light, which apart from emphasizing the light’s artistic significance also reflected -when conceived - the world’s hope of seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel following the global 2-year pandemic hiatus. Given the latest developments and the war in Ukraine, this social, psychological and philosophical dimension has gained even more import.

The works created during the TFC Artist in Residence program will be presented in our upcoming exhibitions and during Miami Art Week.

About Jan Heres

Viewing Heres’ colorful works, it is no surprise to hear him say that his one-year stay in Indonesia has been a turning point in his evolution as an artist. It was formative in terms of his color scheme as well as his philosophical approach to painting. Jan's definitive departure from “his native” earthy and subdued Central European colors was later compounded by his further sojourn in the Mediterranean Valencia, Spain and we can’t wait to see the impact of Miami and southern Florida life on his work.

Jan is an intuitive painter, he lets himself be guided by the painting process and gives free rein to his unconscious. Although the basic features of his painterly style are luminous colors and a high degree of stylizing, his work is not static and defies stereotypes. His color is primarily a carrier of emotion and is closely connected with his experience of themes he approaches.

Earlier this year Jan Heres received Czech Critics' Award in the Under 30 category.

About Filip Svehla

Filip Svehla has a lot in common with his residency colleague in terms of his interest in light and his love for insatiable love for travel. In addition to his extensive exploration of India and Middle East, his one year stay in Valencia, Spain played a key role in his artistic development. The lighting conditions combined with the scenery of the industrial district in which he lived, caused a fundamental evolution of his work. Surrounding urban environment -peeling plaster, disparate facades, protruding insulation elements demolished houses -was the embodiment of the objects for which he as a figurative painter could not find path of expression. His expressive efforts to capture the essence of the shape thus, caused a revolution in his work and resulted in abstract canvases, on which he applies colors in dense pastes, fascinated by their surface, structure and the possibilities of sensory action.

To find out more about the program, the artists or any featured works, please contact the gallery at

THINK+feel Contemporary

silvia@thinkfeelart.com

305.677.9458