Jakub Jansa

'Jakub Jansa builds intriguing narratives through impersonating or giving voice to non-human entities. He connects the international language(s) of contemporary art with local references and cultural coding, e.g. referring to eccentric philosopher Kamil Nábělek. Yet, he addresses globally relevant issues. His work embodies the notion of excess.’ (jury statement)

Jakub Jansa works with film, installations, event organizing. He creates complex environments and situations convincingly merging reality and fiction. His early projects dealing with social manipulation and self-development (Spiritual Fitness, 2016) led to a series of exhibitions with the umbrella title Club of Opportunities (from 2017). Individual episodes gradually uncover the anatomy of mythology and storytelling. Through mixed genres - from drama to absurd comedy - The Club thematise archetypal social topics, posing questions of authority and hierarchical relationships. Low forms elevate in status into high ones and vice versa. Somewhere during that transformation, new opportunities are being created.

Jansa regularly exhibits his work both in the Czech Republic and internationally, recently at Athens Biennale (2018), CEAAC in Strasbourg (2018), Pioneer Works in NYC (2018, within PAF festival) and CCA in Tel Aviv (2019) or HEK Basel (2020) among others. Jansa graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (Supermedia Studio of Federico Díaz and David Kořínek) and went to a study stay in New York (Five Eleven) and residencies in Switzerland (Watch Out, Engstligenalp) and France (CEAAC, Strasbourg). Since 2020, he is co-head of the Performance Studio at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology along with Julie Béna.