March 6th, 2025 | 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
The burning of ego surprisingly smells pleasant. At least, this is how painter Petr Hajdyla perceives it when capturing the unique moment of life between youth and maturity in his most recent work. His canvases testify to the time when the race for success ends and the journey toward authentic existence begins—when ambition shifts into acceptance, and the desire to prove oneself gives way to simply experiencing the present.
In the central piece of the exhibition, The Beautiful Scent of Burning Ego, the artist captures the ancient cultural symbol of a man by the fire, exploring it in a radically personal existential dimension—as a purifying process of burning ego. A naked male figure exposes its most vulnerable spot to the flames in a gesture of total surrender to transformation. A series of paintings featuring racing tracks and tired athletes poetically illustrates the artist's sobering realization that life is not a never-ending competition.
Petr Hajdyla (*1991) is a graduate of the Painting Studio under Professor Daniel Balabán at the Faculty of Arts of Ostrava University. In his work, he focuses on painting that often deals with themes of balance, reconciling opposites like heat and cold, eternity and transience, symbolized by marble or bitten apples. Hajdyla creates a visual meditation on authentic existence, free from the need for constant self-proving.We look forward to meeting you!