Description
Bohumil Eliáš Jr., Silhouettes, 2023
Silhouettes is an intimate glass object in which Bohumil Eliáš Jr. combines a strong coloured frame with several overlapping pictorial layers. The intense red-orange construction encloses an inner scene in which geometric lines, coloured fragments and stylised outlines come together in a spatial composition. The work explores transparency, rhythm and optical depth, demonstrating how painting in glass can move beyond the flat surface and become part of real space.
At first glance, attention is drawn above all to the saturated red frame. It is bold, compact and almost architectural. Yet it does not function merely as a boundary. Through its thickness and transparency, it becomes an active part of the sculpture, capturing light and creating an intense field of colour that defines the character of the whole object.
Within this solid framework lies a far more delicate inner composition. Individual glass layers overlap to create several pictorial planes that cannot be completely separated from one another. Black, white, yellow and red elements shift in relation to each other, and their relationships continually change according to the viewing angle.
Tento princip vrstevnatosti je pro dílo zásadní. Z čelního pohledu se jednotlivé části skládají do kompaktního obrazu, ale při pohybu kolem objektu se začínají rozestupovat. To, co se na první pohled zdá být jedinou linií nebo tvarem, se ukazuje jako soustava několika prostorově oddělených prvků.
The title Silhouettes refers to the figurative character of certain forms within the composition. These are not realistic representations of figures. The outlines are stylised, reduced and at times almost abstract. They may suggest a human body, a profile or a fragment of a figure, while remaining sufficiently open to individual interpretation.
This relationship between figuration and abstraction is one of the work’s strongest qualities. Eliáš does not construct a fixed narrative, but rather a visual situation in which the image emerges and dissolves again. The figure is present, yet never definitive. Its appearance depends on the angle of view, the light and which layer the viewer perceives as dominant.
Linear elements also play a prominent role. Delicate geometric drawings within the inner space contrast with more organic forms and create the impression of a precisely constructed structure. Some lines evoke technical drawings or architectural plans, while others feel freer and more spontaneous.
A striking sculptural element also enters the composition at the front of the object. Its rougher, metallic-looking surface contrasts with the smoothness of the glass and disrupts the purity of the geometric arrangement. It acts almost like a gesture drawn across the image – a physical trace that connects different parts of the work while adding another material layer.
This combination of smooth glass, drawing, colour and textured detail reveals Eliáš’s interest in moving across different media. The object is neither a pure glass sculpture nor a painting. It is built from several artistic principles that support and challenge one another at the same time.
Light plays an equally important role. The red-orange frame responds intensely to illumination – in some areas it appears almost luminous, while elsewhere it takes on a deeper and denser tone. The transparent sections of the inner composition, by contrast, allow light to pass through and alter the relationships between the individual planes.
The object therefore has no single fixed appearance. In soft daylight, it may feel lighter and more transparent, while directed lighting can emphasise the edges, colour and spatial depth of the individual layers. The work naturally changes together with its environment.
In an interior, Silhouettes can function as a strong colour accent and a distinctive solitary piece. Its intimate dimensions mean that it does not require a large space, yet it benefits from a clean setting that allows its geometry and colour to stand out. It can work particularly well on a console, a smaller plinth or in a representative interior where it can be viewed not only from the front, but also from a slight angle.
The side view reveals the actual depth of the construction. The individual layers separate from one another, making it clear that the image is not confined to a single plane. What appears from the front as a painting becomes a sculptural structure in space.
From a collector’s perspective, the date of 2023 is also significant. The work represents a current phase in Bohumil Eliáš Jr.’s practice, in which glass is increasingly combined with image, drawing and spatial construction. Here, he uses glass not only as a transparent material, but as a medium that allows the image to be physically layered and transformed.
Within the context of the exhibition Two paths, one name, jsou Silhouettes is also important because it reveals one of the areas where a distant connection can be traced between the work of Bohumil Eliáš Sr. and his son. Both artists work with image within glass and with its extension into space, but each approaches this differently. In the senior artist’s work, painterly surface and transparency often dominate, while in the younger artist’s work, the image is more closely tied to construction and physical layering.
It is precisely this difference that gives the work its place within the exhibition. Silhouettes is neither a quotation nor a continuation of the father’s practice. It is an independent object in which glass becomes a meeting point for image, figure, geometry and space.
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