Anything goes when in love – is an international exhibition, a seemingly visual essay reacting to issues of relationships, affinity, sympathies, or antipathies. The title itself, potentially a subtitle for any romantic comedy from the beginning of this century is rather ironic. It actually outlines the possible concept of a relationship, things it brings about. Be it a trivial attraction between humans, a natural inclination towards what we think we need, or an increasingly present affinity towards objects stealing our attention – relationships may be magnificent, filled with optimism or paratrophic and toxic with fatal consequences. Thus, this exhibition is not a mere romanticizing love story. Insinuated ideas of relationships become an ambivalent emotional ride, following the connections and mutual effects of objects, humans or animals. It offers a natural account of intimacy, inexplicable attraction, parasitisation, conscious or unconscious dependencies, natural gravitation and forbidden fruit.

The curator’s project represents current trends in the production of internationally active artists– Claude Eigan[1] (France, based in Berlin), Sári Ember (Brazil, lives and works in Budapest), Monika Grabuschnigg (Austria, lives and works in Berlin) and Eliška Konečná (Czech Republic, lives and works in Prague). Their individual works depict topics directly linked to relationships, mainly through styled figural motifs, though original symbolism, metaphorical scenes or personal mythologies represent a significant part of the selection that embodies the current update of traditional artistic techniques such as ceramics, drawing, textile or ceramic paintings. Creation of most of the artworks was prompted by this exhibition. They are characterized by formal appropriations followed by the ideological repositioning of the context of original prototypes. Comeback to nature, ephemeral situations and organic materials is clearly present. One can observe bewilderment by craft, joy from physical contact with the materials used – all in stark contrast to the digitalization of the world (and) arts. Exhibited works communicate through universal language, though inspired by intimacy or personal experiences to a great extent. They are based in history and myths, spotted and processed through the principles of pop culture. Yet again, anything goes…