A new series of paintings by Jaroslava Valečka intertwines real-life stories, everyday village life, the destructive power of fire, and a unique conception of justice that sometimes comes as an unexpected blow from above.

The title of the exhibition, Memoirs of a Pyromaniac, is based on a story an elderly man told the artist. His neighbor was allegedly systematically stealing his firewood and burning it in her own stove. When several cubic meters of wood had disappeared over time, the man drilled holes into some of the logs, hid old cartridges inside them, and returned them to the pile. The neighbor’s chimney could not withstand the ensuing explosion. As the story laconically concludes: “They say the explosion was spectacular.”

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