Marie Kůsová

In her paintings, Marie (“Majda”) Kůsová (*1949) introduces us to a never-ending story that seems almost childishly simple and clear, but at the same time unfolds in very dramatic, abrupt twists and turns. Hidden events seep into them from depths that are hard to see, which is reflected in the many layers the artist paints over her paintings. As in the graffiti on the walls of modern cities, in Maria Kůsová’s work one can often only vaguely sense all the multitudes of figures and indecipherable tangles of various inscriptions that seem to have dissolved or fallen into oblivion, yet still enter into the main plot.

Marie is a typical example of a creative personality who, without a creative studio, would probably have gone through life without anyone having the opportunity to get to know and appreciate her. On her own, she would hardly have arrived at the technique of acrylic painting on canvas, sometimes illustrated with pastel, but when it was offered to her at the Joyful Creation Studio, she was able to excel at it immediately. And it is significant that here she even found the central character of her story, whose name is usually written directly on the paintings: Otto, that is the long-time head of the studio Otto Kouwen, is painted in various situations in his life, experiencing all kinds of illnesses and accidents, evoking admiration and a completely ingenuous erotic fascination.