The Latin title of the exhibition Botanica Hilaris refers to the cultural and spiritual environment of monasteries, which for centuries were, among other things, places where monks cultivated, studied, and described plants. They created herbariums, illuminated manuscripts, and encyclopedias of nature. In addition to precise observations, they often depicted plants known only from stories, transcribed sources, or mythology. A botanical image was thus not merely a record of reality, but always a space for the imagination as well.

Václav Matoušek—also known as Bill the Hobo— a prominent figure in the local post-graffiti scene, whose greatest strengths include an uninhibited immediacy and an exceptional, ironic conciseness. His paintings certainly do not constitute a botanical atlas or a catalog of specific species. Although they are based on reality, they nevertheless—in a somewhat playful manner—use his characteristic sweeping “scribbles” to shift the typology of plants and flowers into the realm of fantastical, emotional transformation.

Although the grotesque themes of his paintings may not seem profound at first glance, most of them conceal reflections on more general questions. His latest series stems from his observations of the biotope in the immediate vicinity of his home. On the site of a former industrial complex, which nature has almost completely reclaimed over the years, Václav Matoušek observes the process of spontaneous regeneration and the gradual changes in species composition. With climate change, new plant species are arriving, others are receding, and the landscape is transforming. The theme of drought also plays a significant role. He himself captures this process as a story of migration, adaptation, and resilience. Plants become a reflection of the landscape, which is changing before our eyes and seeking a new balance

Even the materials he uses are connected to these themes. Oil pastels, unprimed canvases, and layers of clay refer to a direct physical experience with soil and vegetation. Sprayed and dripping acrylic paints can evoke an urgent anticipation of rain. Reliefs made of cement resemble limestone, the geological foundation of the Bohemian Karst, the landscape where Václav Matoušek lives and works. His painting thus unexpectedly becomes a meeting place for botanical, geological, and climatic processes.

In dialogue with the architecture of the Broumov Monastery, Botanica Hilaris gains another layer of meaning. Just like medieval herbariums, these paintings do not merely stand on the border between observation and imagination. They are a positively exaggerated testimony to the mutability of the world, in which nature is constantly rewriting itself, creating new forms, and transcending established categories. From the real transformations of the landscape, shapes, structures, and organisms emerge that can be as much a record of reality as a call to dream.

Botanica Hilaris invites children and adults alike to become explorers of the unknown plant world for a moment and to awaken within themselves the creative curiosity with which monks once pored over the pages of their herbariums. 

Curator: Radek Wohlmuth