Limited edition – WWC #2

About the work

The photograph of a hibiscus against a softly shifting background draws on the tradition of still life, yet transforms it into a pure visual study. It does not depict an object but focuses on the image itself, its form and aesthetics. The picture is part of the artist’s project Whole World Catalogue, a visual inventory of the human desire to have the world named, accessible and organized. Yet every pursuit of perfection is also a prelude to loss. The flower, beautiful and motionless, suspended in timelessness, stands on the threshold between life and its image, between reality and what photography makes of it.

Bio

Václav Kopecký studied photography under Pavel Baňka at the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and under Hynek Alt and Aleksandra Vajd at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM). In 2019, he received his Ph.D. in Fine Arts from UMPRUM. From 2020 to 2024, together with Jiří Thýn, he co-led the Applied Photography Studio at FUD UJEP. Since 2024, he has been based at the Fine Arts Studio IV (Photography) at UMPRUM, which he co-leads with Jiří Thýn. He lives and works in Prague. In 2025, he published Light Blue Filter at UMPRUM, a publication stemming from his long-term pedagogical and research interest in the principles of the photographic medium.