Detail from: “Naděje,” 2026, mixed media on canvas

Exhibition from October 30, 2026, through December 10, 2026

A joint exhibition by Marí Emily Bohley and Robert Richter Robert Richter

Opening: Friday, October 30, 2026, 7:00 p.m.

Dates: October 30, 2026, through January 10, 2027

Location: Galerie Raskolnikow, Böhmische Str. 34, 01099 Dresden 

Hours: Wed–Fri 3–6 p.m. / Sat 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

About My Works in the Exhibition

Layers of Hope
Ruins are the remnants of past lives. Which ruins will remain in the future from the decisions we make today?
In my works for this exhibition, I want to turn my attention to the hope we need for our present actions, drawing on a quote from the Czech poet, thinker, political prisoner, and president Václav Havel:  
„Hope is not the conviction that things will turn out well, but the certainty that they have meaning, no matter how they turn out.“

Václav Havel’s own life exemplifies this statement:
When, under the communist regime, he witnessed a trial in which the musicians of an underground band were sentenced to prison for their way of life, he drafted “Charter 77” in their support. This led to the formation of a coalition of people from all walks of life—artists, priests, academics, workers, women, and men. They documented human rights violations and supported those facing political persecution in their own country. When Havel himself was imprisoned several times for this cause, the likelihood that he would not physically survive his imprisonment was much greater than what actually happened:

Starting on November 7, 1989, demonstrators of the Velvet Revolution chanted: HAVEL NA HRAD (Havel to the Castle, the traditional seat of the president). On December 29, 1989, Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia and sworn in that very same day.

I visually interpret the complexity of hope through a combination of gesso, acrylic, collage, and gold on canvas.

The coarse, white chalk base (gesso) provides structure and depth—uneven, cracked—representing the harsh reality, the scars of life that our hope must contend with.

The words Naděje / Hoffnung / Hope are incorporated into the fragmented collage in three languages. Language and layers of paint overlap.

Using layers of acrylic paint—often opaque—I paint over, glaze, and conceal parts of the collage. The interplay of transparency and opacity symbolizes chaos and the uncertainty of the future.
Gold breaks through dark layers of acrylic as an accent or shimmers on rough gesso textures. It reacts to light and to the angle from which it is viewed. Through my work, I invite viewers to explore their own layers of hope.

 „Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense—regardless of how it turns out.“

 „Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense—no matter how it turns out.“

 „Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.“