Since 2010 Luděk Rathouský has concentrated on developing a specific painterly language based on his study of the earliest paintings from Central Europe. The Gothic masters’ indisputable quality was both sufficient reason and the inspiration for him to again attempt a new visual form. After spending several years adopting the techniques of medieval painting, Rathouský arrived at a distinctive artistic vocabulary. He uses paint rollers and metal leaf to create a metallic layer and then adds oil paint in a thick paste. In his pastels on paper he colours the structures and gaps with surgical precision. He selects his paints on the basis of his chosen system, with minimal opportunity for any aesthetic deviation. The current phase of his development is the start of a process of purging himself of the significance attached to content with a clearly declared meaning. This gradual releasing of painting from concrete messages and meanings makes his work in essence abstract. The controlled randomness of the metallic structure and the careful filling in of the gaps with a thick layer of paint may seem expressive in style, but it is in fact a very time-consuming process that highlights the meditative aspects of the medieval approach. (Kateřina Štroblová)