They ran, yet they stood still
Heres Jan
They ran, yet they stood still, 2025
180 x 150 cm
acrylic on canvas
Alice finds herself in a strange landscape beyond the looking-glass and meets the Red Queen. The Queen tells her that she must run if she wants to get anywhere. She grabs Alice's hand, and they both run so fast that Alice is barely able to catch her breath. They run and run, the wind whistling past their ears, but when they finally stop, Alice notices they are still in the exact same place, by the same tree as when they started.
This new series of paintings is my invitation into a world where reality loses its contours, and different rules of logic and perception begin to apply. I do not strive for a literal illustration of the work, but rather for my own contemporary interpretation of its motifs and atmosphere. I combine classical painting with the airbrush technique to create multi-layered works of meaning that I leave open to the viewer's interpretation.
This painting was used on the invitation for the exhibition Alice Reloaded, which took place in the center of Prague at the Via Art Gallery in September and October 2025, and was one of the main works of the entire exposition.
About the artist
born in 1992, St Gallen, Switzerland
Education:
2015 – 2016 Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Czech Republic, Painting Studio I of prof. Jiří Sopko
2014 – 2015 Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta, Painting studio
Scholarships and residences:
2022 Residence in Miami, THINK + feel contemporary Art Gallery, USA
2023 House of Menander, The Chemistry Gallery, Praha
2022 Bite Back, Galerie Felixe Jeneweina, Kutná Hora
Group Exhibitions:
2024 Art Prague, Youngrealart, Clam-Gallasův palác, Praha
2024 Art in Libeň, Jan Heres, Hana Sommerová, Petr Gruber, Tomáš Honz, Marta Gruber, David
Kolovratník, Galerie Beseder, Praha
2024 Spřízněni volbou, The Chemistry Gallery, Galerie Portheimka, Praha
2024 So Close, Yet So Far Away, Jan Heres, Laura Limbourg, Markéta Kolářová, THINK+feel
Contemporary, Miami, Florida
2023 Art Prague, Youngrealart, Clam-Gallasův palác, Praha
2023 Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Jan Heres, Martin Kačmárek, Dominika Kováčíková, Jan Soumar,
DOT. Contemporary, Bratislava, Slovensko
2023 One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor, The Chemistry Gallery, Dům Radost, Praha
2023 Dragon Fruit, Jan Heres, Laura Limbourg, Markéta Kolářová, Kampus Hybernská, Praha
2023 In Arte Voluptas, The Chemistry Gallery, Galerie Portheimka, Praha
2022 (UN) Attainable Light, THINK+feel Contemporary, Miami, USA (with Filip Švehla)
2021 Finalist of the 14th Price of Art Critics for Young Painting, Galerie Kritiků, Prague
2021 Rainbow in the rain, Art library of the Municipal Library in Prague
2020 Lovekill, Jan Heres a David Mazanec, Brandýs nad Orlicí
2020 Art Prague Fair, Youngrealart, Prague
2020 Real Dreams, Nová síň, Prague
2019 Unconsciousness, Galerie ŠČigol, Prague
2017 New Wave - Diploma work exhibition 2017, National Gallery in Prague
2016 In Half: Adéla Lustigová and Jan Heres, Via Art Gallery, Prague, CZ
2014 I Walked Past an Apple Tree, Nakladove nadrazi Zizkov, Prague, Czech Republic
2013 The World Around Us, The National Technical Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2013 12th ESID - Welcoming of Prague's Spring, K4 Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2012 Twelve Years of the Painting Studio of doc. Michael Rittstein, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Wienna, Austria
2012 Figurama, Gallery of Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
Appraisement:
2021 Finalist of the 14. Price of Art Critics for Young Painting, Galerie Kritiků, Prague (CZ)
