curator: Jan Čejka

Fairy tale is nothing less than an arbiter of good and evil, the decision of which is comprehensible even to the youngest minds

The White & Weiss Gallery in Bratislava has been transformed into an allegorical realm. The exhibition features three leading Czech artists, each of whom has long been associated with fairy tales. Formally united by mythological metamorphosis of human figure on natural materials, flora and fauna, the artists create a dark forest or an enchanted castle in the gallery, leaving traces after the beauty and the beast, yet without offering a literal narration of the story.

The gallery presents the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast as an archetype, with origins tracing back 4,000 years. Recognized globally, its themes often echo the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche, abandoning the sphere of hearsay, becoming an allegory of human soul’s difficult journey toward love or perfection, often requiring substantial sacrifice. As the curator Jan Čejka suggests that “Fairy tale is nothing less than an arbiter of good and evil, the decision of which is comprehensible even to the youngest minds.”

The exhibition thus primarily addresses empathy –between culture and nature, man and animal, the outer face and concealed inner states. It explores whether human is truly better than an animal. What all can fantasy illustrate. It seeks inner child in an adult, inquires about the state of the world destined for future generations.

About the artists:

Šárka Koudelová (b. 1987) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (2010 – 2016) at the studio led by Vladimír Kokola (2010 – 20 2), Jiří Petrboek (2012 – 2014) and Vladimír Skrepl (2014 – 2016). She held an internship with Erwin Bohatsch at the Academy in Vienna (2015) and attended a residency at the Egon Schiele Art Centre in Český Krumlov (2016). Exhibitions by this well-established artists include Antroporary at the Ján Koniarek Gallery in Trnava (2020) and Něžná at Karlín Studios (2021 – 2022). She is one of the few contemporary artists with a successful and extensive auction history in the well-known KODL auction room. She is a finalist for the Critics’ Prize for Young Painting (2015). In addition to her own work, she is also curator, primarily for Studio PRÁM. Previously, with her husband Ondřej Basjuk, she ran a Prague-based k.art.on gallery (2012- 2015).

Magdaléna Roztočilová (b.1989) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in the studio led by Jaroslav Róna (2008 – 2013), and held internships led by the Gelitin art collective when guest lecturing at Šaloun’s studio at the Academy of Fine Arts (2010), and by Kryštof Kintera at the UMPRUM (2011). She is one of the leading Czech contemporary sculptors. Her exhibitions include, inter alia, , Beauty and Grace at the Regional Gallery Liberec (2019) or History is to be Told as a Story at the Pekelné sáně Gallery in Kroměříž (2024). She is co-founder of Studio PRÁM. Ms Roztočilová helped to convene a number of public installations, such as the memorial to the victims of Communism in Boskovice, the Delichorn sculpture in Selbe, Germany, or the Milada Horáková bust for the Regional Office of the Pilsen Region.

Dana Sahánková (b.1984) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under the tutelage of Jitka Svobodová (2005 – 2011) with an intermezzo in the studio led by Veronika Bromová (2009); she also held an internship at the College of Fine Arts in Dijon, France (2008). She is one of the leading contemporary representatives of drawing. Her works are in the collections of the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region (GASK) in Kutná Hora, the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové, the East Bohemian Gallery in Pardubice and the Klatovy / Klenová Gallery. Exhibitions include The Dragon Awakens at the National Gallery Prague (2014), Ve slupce nikdy nenajdeš stání at the Trafo Gallery in Prague (2019) and, most recently, States of Uncertain Domesticities exhibition at Haus Kunst Mitte in Berlin (2025). In 2012, she was finalist for the Critics’ Prize for Young Painting.