With her installation Jungle Beat, Michaela Spružinová invites us to follow the visual myth of the winner and the loser. The theme is strongly inspired by the artist’s own professional career on the one hand and motherhood on the other. As both an artist and a mother, she often moves between the poles, and it is not always easy to reconcile these two roles, both very important in life. Although the installation may seem parodic, it is a very intimate female confession at its core. On a more general level, the artist also refers to the issue of sexual identity shaped by the consumer culture; glass objects, gloves and underwear can be seen as its attributes. The artist has been dealing with the critique of society across her work for a long time. Other themes include criticism of fashion trends, the ideal of beauty and perfection, and their influence on society. The installation stems from the artist’s longer-term interest in the human body, specifically the parts that are traditionally considered crucial in judging female beauty. She reshapes and takes these female forms to extremes – creating a new mythology of physical beauty taken to the absurd. (text Adéla Machová)