The exhibition title Hell Is Other People refers to Sartre’s quote that another person “mirrors” us and thereby objectifies us. It refers to the psychological hell of others’ judgmental gazes. Kolář and Pokorný mutually mirror the themes of their works, leaving the viewer uncertain as to what is the original and what is the derivative. Can a copy be more authentic than its model? Aren’t we all just false imitations of ourselves? Kolář envisions a tragic future for the human body through its utilitarian mutilation by robotics, while Pokorný perceives the body as a monstrous biomechanism.

Both artists invite the viewer into an industrial hell of iron and concrete. Kolář presents a series of robots mimicking pathological human behavior within a web of toxic relationships. He has abandoned his earlier critique of pop-culture kitsch and turned toward an apocalyptic technocracy where machines have transformed into mechanized nightmares. However, he remains faithful to the ideas of existentialism and nihilism, now focusing on perspectivism. Technology is not a tool of objective truth—it represents a destructive automaton that blindly quantifies the world.

Sculptor Pokorný builds his inferno of demonic sculptures using concrete, asphalt, silicon, and other materials of civilization. He dismantles the world and assembles a new human from its fragments, just as God created Adam from clay. Unlike Kolář, he does not depict robots, but rather golems made of living biomass. They are deformed, existentially overburdened beings on the verge of collapse.

The works of both artists respond to one another, contradict each other, and influence one another. It is a semi-mad dance macabre where, instead of beggars and kings, monsters and androids dance. Kolář refutes the redemptive power of technology, and Pokorný refutes the cult of the body. Pokorný scratches, burns, layers, destroys, and rebuilds his creations, wrestling with them like the biblical Jacob with an angel—albeit a fallen one. As Albert Vyskočil wrote: “Art is the result of a struggle. […] The artist struggles directly for his very existence.” And this exhibition proves that one must fight for art.

Martin Kolář (*1999) is a recent graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU). He began his studies in Jiří Petrbok’s drawing studio and completed them under Alice Nikitinová. From his very first year, he attracted attention with his highly precise painting technique combined with a distinctive style in which, following the example of Jacques Derrida, he critically deconstructs reality. His paintings are psychological sketches that unmask society. The figures (often disabled, paralyzed, or fused together) are subjected to absurd, pathological events beyond their control. He has exhibited at the NTK Gallery, Dolmen Gallery, Nookart Studio, Art Space NOV, and others. He is also the frontman of the bands Miagra (alternative rock) and Vincent (darkwave).

Matěj Pokorný (*1997) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Lukáš Rittstein (2017–2018) and Jiří Petrbok (2018–2023). He focuses on sculpture and figurative painting, through which he explores the transformations of the human body and consciousness in the context of technology and the digital age. His work intertwines themes of destruction, entropy, and uncontrollability. He operates at the boundary between structure and unexpected outcomes. Recently, his focus has shifted toward combining abstract forms with figurative elements, and he has been delving into the themes of cyborgism and transhumanism. He has exhibited at venues such as Spot Gallery, HYB4, Portheimka Gallery, Platforma 15, and others. He is a member of the experimental theater group Nous Kolektiv.