Exhibition “She Tried to Lie Down in Sulfuric Acid” finissage and a launch of a book Dogs and Daughters

In moments of confrontation, we learn, repeat, search, and, above all, mature. The sign of adulthood is the understanding of the patterns presented to us. Deep within the darkest depths, the bud of a rose slowly awakens. Its petals do not turn towards the sun, nor do they seek moisture. They ask us. But our response does not come. We have grown up.

The exhibition “She Tried to Lie Down in Sulfuric Acid” is a personal narrative of the rose. In order to understand, we must forget. Surrender and open a new version of the narrative. Its essence is not stored in reality, but in a symbol we have forgotten.

Simona Koutná is an interdisciplinary artist based in Prague. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from UMPRUM in Prague and completed her Master’s studies at the Department of Fine Arts in Arnhem, Netherlands. Since 2020, she has been pursuing further studies at FaVU in Brno, where she is currently completing her doctoral thesis. In her work, she focuses on the ideal of the functional fertile female body, as predominantly represented by mainstream media. Her narrative on female representation, often conducted in the first person, subverts the original narrative through personal protest that unsettles with its urgency.