Hynek Skoták
MDR, 2025
MDR is an acronym for the name of Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová – a native of Litomyšl. At the same time, it hides another anagram that will only be revealed to us after dark. The new exhibition space spread across three shop windows is located in Litomyšl on M. D. Rettigová Street and will commence its exhibition activities there in June 2025 under the auspices of the Town Gallery. The pilot project attracts the attention of passers-by to the new showcase gallery with its minimalistic intervention that lights up the darkness of the peaceful historical town – in which the bishopric once resided and where many important personalities, including Božena Němcová, Alois Jirásek and Bedřich Smetana, spent time.
The light-intervention by sculptor and conceptual artist Hynek Skoták, entitled MDR, responds to the peaceful nature of the city and to the cramming of the urban space with artistic artefacts from previous years. The gallery brings the spirit of the so-called alleys of love to M. D. Rettigová street: the red-light windows arouse curiosity, stimulate the imagination, while at the same time reveal nothing more about what is inside the ornate house at No. 118. MDR works with light in a very modest manner, with an exacting design framing the defined the area. The subversive nature of the installation urges us to ask question: Will there be a newly opened enterprise trading in pleasure here? However, MDR does not offer a clear answer and changes its character according to the time of day but shines most brightly in the dark.
Curator/ Marcela Straková
Location/ Smetanovo nám. no. 118 (windows facing Magdalena Dobromila Rettigova Street)
GPS/ 49.871188N, 16.310987E
