Patrik Proško

The anamorphic portrait of Czech shoemaker, entrepreneur and industrialist Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932) is based on the principle of interconnection. Baťa’s business system was not based solely on footwear production, but linked work, education, housing and personal responsibility into a single complex whole. A similar principle of layering and of the relationship between individual parts and the resulting whole is inherent in the anamorphic installation itself. Shoes are the primary material of the portrait, including footwear originating from the Baťa factory in Dolní Němčí. Their conceptual relationship to the subject is combined with a purely pictorial function. Individual shoes are arranged as elements of colour and form so that the resulting portrait evokes the impression of an Impressionist painting. The three-dimensional installation thus works with the principles of two-dimensional painting. Each shoe assumes the function of a brushstroke or an application of paint, and together they model the face. The principal inspiration was the expressive, impasto handling of paint associated with Vincent van Gogh.