Vlastimil Elšík

He studied at SUPŠ (Secondary School of Applied Art) in Uherské Hradiště, and in 1981 he graduated from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague under Professor Karel Souček. In addition to painting, he also does graphic design, figure drawing, wood carving and ceramics. He organized several independent exhibitions in Prague and participated in many group exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad.

In addition to free art, he also teaches. He founded the private art school E-dílna, whose graduates study at high schools and colleges that focus on art. The dominating interest of this all-round artist is mostly figural composition with an emphasis on means of expression that are able to accentuate the sensitive contrast between the whole and small details. His early work was characterized by sober tones, but in his current work he uses a more colorful spectrum. In addition to his figural creation, he examines reality in abstract form, simplifying and reducing painting and color, through which he attempts to create a subjective reflection of the inner order of observed reality.

The characteristic feature of Vlastimil Elšík's art is diverse creativity, a modest approach to presentation, and a sensitive ability to understand his students. His work is represented in collections in the Czech Republic as well as abroad. He lives and works in Prague.

Kurt Gebauer

He graduated from the Secondary School of Stonemasonry and Scultpure in Hořice, and then AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague in the studio of V. Makovský and K. Lidický. In 1990 he was appointed the leading pedagogue of the Sculpture Studio at VŠUP (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design) in Prague, and in 1992 he was appointed professor. He teaches at the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň and the Technical University in Liberec. He is a member of the free art group "12/15 Pozdě, ale přece". He entered the Czech art scene in the liberal 1960s. He has always enjoyed new figuration, as well as impulses from action, conceptual and environmental art, in which he works with free terrain (e.g. the unique playground in the Fifejdy settlement in Ostrava from 1980-1985). In the 1980s he exhibited his art at unofficial events (e.g. Malostranské dvorky, 1981) where he installed his works that are well-known today - "Cvrčkův sen" (Cricket's dream), "Figury v oknech" (Figures in windows) and "Plavkyně" (Female swimmer). The theme of Female swimmers was one of the most striking in his work, in addition to the well-known Dwarfs, and it also includes drawings and photographs as well as three-dimensional sculptures. Another of his distinctive themes are floating female figures.

Kurt Gebauer’s work represented in the collections of the National Gallery in Prague, the Prague City Gallery, the Moravian Gallery in Brno and other major galleries and museums in the Czech Republic as well as abroad. He lives and works in Prague.

Bohumír Gemrot

He studied at the Secondary Art School in Prague and then at the VŠUP (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design) in Prague in the Painting Studio under Professor Quido Fojtík.

"He devotes himself to applied painting, picture painting and painting on the surface of old furniture pieces. His work is characterized by abstract painting based on figural themes and human relationships. Color is a strong element of his, often based on distinctive and unusual color combinations." (PhDr. Eliška Schránilová).

In addition to free art, he also does promotional and interactive graphic design as well as teaching. He is the author of the comic series "O bozích a lidech" (About Gods and Men – Kometa magazine) and "Třetí pusa pro princeznu" (The Third Kiss for the Princess - issued by KPK). He has long been collaborating with Bohemia Design (painting in architecture, "Malovaný nábytek" project), the ES gallery in Prague, the La Femme Gallery in Prague and Charles University in Prague (interactive graphics). He is co-founder of the Higher Vocational School, interactive graphics at "Hollarka". He is currently the director of the Higher Vocational School and the Václav Hollar Secondary School of Fine Arts in Prague. Since 1985 he has regular exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad at both joint and independent exhibitions.

Boris Jirků

He studied at SUPŠ (Secondary School of Applied Art) in Uherské Hradiště, and then at AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague in the studio of Arnošt Paderlík. He graduated with illustrations of “The Autumn of the Patriarch” by G. G. Márquez, receiving an academy award for them. He has been teaching at art universities since 1990. At the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, he led a figural drawing and painting class and worked as rector of the school. He now teaches figural drawing and painting at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art, University of West Bohemia in Plzeň, figural drawing and painting and the Illustration Studio at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica. He has illustrated books by G. G. Márquez's (Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Odeon 1986 - award for the most beautiful book of the year, and One Hundred Years of Solitude, Odeon 1988, and others). He also received an award for the most beautiful book of Slovakia (Bibliophilia K. Kryl “The road is made of dust ...” 2002), an award for graphic design of the year in the CR (Revelation of St. John - Apocalypse), and other awards. In addition to illustrations (about 40 books), he devotes himself to figural drawing, painting, graphic design, sculpture, and artworks in architecture. His work is known for its typical expressive exaggeration, contrasting color, his own symbolism, and exuberant existentialism straddled between Thanatos and Eros.

He founded and leads the international European project FIGURAMA and ARTELERIE in support of contemporary figural drawing and painting, an exhibition cycle of student drawings from fifteen European and US universities. He has exhibitions around the world at joint and independent exhibitions. His work is represented in a number of state and private galleries.

Jitka Kantová

She studied at the Pedagogical University in Pilsen, specializing in fine arts. She then received an internship at Derix Glass Studios in Rottweil, the oldest stained glass workshop in Central Europe.

She specializes in stained glass and painting on glass. In addition to stained glass, other artefacts (lamps, jewelry, vases, candlesticks, paintings and small stained-glass pendants) are created in the Kant studio. She won a commission for a gallery in New York with Richard Kant, and in 2015 she created a large stained-glass window titled Porta Bohemica - The Gateway of Bohemia. The piece represented the Czech Republic at the world exhibition Expo 2015 in Italy. Together they built a 13.5-meter high glass obelisk in front of the main post office in Karlovy Vary and an all-glass ceiling in a casino in České Kubice. They are also the main suppliers of Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary.

Jitka Kantova combines the rough beauty of stone with the softness and effects of colored glass, combined with lead or tin. She uses stained glass, mosaic, casting, stone and light for her pieces of art. She has gained a number of recognitions and diplomas, including the award of the Parliament of the Czech Republic "Sůl země" (Salt of the Earth), the Křesadlo 2011 award and the Entente Florale CZ Association jury award for an exceptional achievement - the stained-glass museum in the Church of St. Giles in Libyně.

foto: Lukáš Erba

Adam Kašpar

From 2009 to 2012 he studied at the Secondary Graphic Art School in Jihlava, and in 2018 he graduated from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague, Painting Studio, under Professor Martin Mainer.

The dominant theme of Kašpar's works is nature, which he illustrates with a precise realistic technique. His painting is preceded by a number of preparatory sketches, photogaphs and systematic observations. Kašpar examines nature as a phenomenon that is inextricably linked with man and society. He is interested in specific places, the specific character of which he reflects in the painting.

In recent years he has been working in two areas, the first of which is an interest in the geological understanding of the construction of the Earth in its parts and as a whole. These images are studies of folds, veins, and breaks - formations that carry a record of their dynamic history. Another area of Adam Kaspar's work is his interest in natural forests and old-growth forests, and their discovery, exploration and documentation in paintings. This mainly includes plein air pictures of smaller formats. He has had several independent and group exhibitions, and his work on the Czech art scene is becoming an increasingly outstanding phenomenon. He lives and works in Svitavy.

Richard Kočí

He left Czechoslovakia during his childhood. He studied art in the US at the North Texas State University. In 1976 he moved to Spain and continued his studies in sculpture, graphics and intaglio printing in Madrid. He later also started to paint.

After returning to the Czech Republic in the second half of the 1990s, he continued to paint and create graphic art, and he also created his first monumental statues from wood, which were characterized by his typical style for a long time; they were characterized by a distinct purity of style and the dominant tectonics of a unique architectural style. The shapes and precisely constructed surface structures of these archetypal sculptures bear marked aesthetic qualities, but they are neither descriptive nor self-serving - they depict elementary forces that express the relativity of existential values and create a dialogue with the fateful attempt of man to realize the unrealizable and grasp the ungraspable. These are, in fact, the artist's internal materialized symbolic patterns.

His recent work has been characterized by geometric accuracy as well as a certain lyrical tendency. He has participated in a number of exhibitions, particularly in Europe and the US. His latest exhibition was in the DOX Center for Contemporary Art in 2016. He lives and works in Prague.

Jiří Kožíšek

He graduated from the Secondary Glass and Ceramics School in Karlovy Vary, and VŠUP (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design) in Prague. "The basic material at which all his creative initiative and creativity is directed is porcelain. His technological and aesthetic possibilities are dominant from the position of a Karlovy Vary porcelain designer. He always tried to combine production requirements with modern modeling, and experience with production has provided him with guides for the free studio work he has been doing since 1994 to this day.

The author uses the advantages of porcelain in creating form, in its modeling, in underlining the aesthetic qualities of this noble material whose transparency is accentuated by illumination or in the contrast of color accents, realized by classical procedures or an expressive gesture of painting or drawing. In his porcelain objects and installations, he touches on today's life in its ridiculous, banal and flagrant situations with exaggeration and humor. In painting, sculptures and objects, drawings and installations, he creatively connects various art techniques and materials such as glass, porcelain and wood." (Božena Vachudová)

He received a number of awards, and he is a member of the Union of Visual Artists of the Czech Republic. He lives and works in Karlovy Vary.

Ing. Helena Kroftová Leisztner

Her work is primarily inspired by women, nature and architecture. She is the author of the "Praga Caput Regni - Rei publicae" project presenting Prague and the Czech Republic through live artefacts. She created a clothing collection with national colors on the topic of state and historical symbols that she first presented to the public at the international competition Czech Miss, starting in since 2005, and at the Gala-Opening of the International Biennial of Art NG.

As a multimedia artist, she combines her own oil painting, photography, drawing and clothing design with the motifs of her paintings in a so-called art fashion show - with the dancing of models and ballerinas with paintings and clothing using the same motif. She also creates 3D oil paintings and rotating mandalas decorated with stones and diamonds with a phosphorescent effect, and her motifs are placed on vacuum glass for shower enclosures and tiles. The project has been shown at many of her exhibitions, including art fashion shows (e.g. Stockholm – Colours of Woman).

In the Czech Republic and abroad, she organizes private exhibitions and artistic performances especially for members of the diplomatic corps, VIPs from politics, culture and art, charity artistic activities as the co-founder of FNMWA-Washington. She represented Czech Republic at International exhibition of 27 EU countries in Paris - La Coupole. She has won a number of prominent awards: Czech Republic, Italy, USA.

Milan Kunc

From 1964 to 1967 he studied at AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague under Professor Karel Souček. In 1969 he emigrated to Germany where he studied at Staatliche Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf under Professor Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter. At the end of the 1970's he created OST POP, which was his own version of POP ART. In 1979 he founded the NORMAL group together with Peter Angermann and Jan Knap, which became famous in 1980 in New York at the Times Square Show and represented Germany at the 11th Biennale in Paris. The NORMAL group painted large-area images on billboards, but at a very professional level. Since 1985, Milan Kunc's painting style is leaning towards neoclassical themes. At the end of the 1990's he left New York for Rome, where he devoted himself to precision painting with natural themes and pithy contents.

He became known for his specific visualization, in which several levels of socially important themes are projected (ZEITGEIST), re-evaluating outlets of postmodern pictures. In his work he often ironically balances on the borderline of profane painting (KITSCH ART) and high classical art, merging into an almost lyrical sensitivity.

Milan Kunc lived and worked in Germany, Italy, the US and the Netherlands. His work is represented in many world museums, galleries and private collections. Since 2004 he has been working and living in Prague.

Olga Maler-Kunc

She graduated from a state art school in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, specializing in drawing and painting. She then studied visual communication and naturalistic drawing at Kunsthochschule Kassel in Germany, writing her graduate thesis under Professors Walter Raabe and Peter Paulus. In 2011 she finished her pedagogical study of anthroposophy in Nuremberg, where she also worked at a Waldorf school. Since 2009 she has been alternately living and working in Prague and Nuremberg.

She has been collaborating on designing a porcelain collection for Suppenlöffel in Nuremberg, and since 2009 she has been working with fairytale teller Silvia Petek from Nuremberg.

She participated in joint exhibitions in Mikulov in 2002 and 2016, in Klementinum in Prague in 2004, at Wiepersdorf Castle in Brandenburg in 2009, and the SPEKTRUM literary education center in Homberg-Hessen. She is currently working on two children's books, one of which she is writing and illustrating herself.

Luna Isis

She studied applied painting at the Private High School of Art Design in Prague, in the studio of academic painter Jaroslav Klát.

Luna Isis creates various forms of art that she intertwines with mysticism and personal development. She created cycles "Expresivní hlubina" (Expressive Depth), "Mystický symbolismus" (Mystical Symbolism) and "Mandaly" (Mandalas), distinctive woodcuts Zlatý Fénix (Golden Phenix) and a set of Buddha collages. "Expresivní hlubina" expresses an individual look into one's own consciousness in an abstract dynamic painting accentuating experience and emotions. The set of eighty-one pictures of "Mystický symbolismus" are complemented by motivational texts. Since 2017 she is experiencing a "golden-white" period.

Luna Isis is interested in the state of enlightenment, love and harmony; she first put their unison into the woodcuts of the "Zlatý Fénix" cycle, and then into painting on porcelain, which let her intent and passion be fully heard, connecting them with the creation of her thus far last period. Luna exhibited at independent and joint exhibitions in Prague, Karlovy Vary, Benátky nad Jizerou, etc.; her works are in both Czech and foreign private collections. She lives and works in Prague.

Martin Němec

He graduated from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague under Professor Jan Smetana. He is the band leader and exclusive author of the Precedens rock band (Doba ledová, Věž z písku, Pompeje, Drž hudbu!, Aurora, etc.) and the Lili Marlene band (Tango desolato, Vrány a havrani). He recorded dozens of albums with Bára Basiková and other performers (Angel voices, Dreams of sphinx, Responsio mortifera, etc.), and "Tajnej svatej" and "Šílený pondělí" with Jan Sahara Hedl. He wrote music for many movies and plays by Ctibor Turba. He has received a number of musical awards (Discovery of the Year, Album of the Decade, 2x Bratislavská Lyra 1990). He published two critically acclaimed books of short stories ("Stodola" (Barn) and "Vana s výhledem" (Bathtub with a View). Director Juraj Herz made the feature film "T.M.A." and Milan Šteindler filmed "Perníková věž" based on his screenplay, awarded by the Miloš Havel Foundation. He also wrote music for both films. He wrote TV jingles "Gen", "Genus" and others.

He has been writing for Český rozhlas (Czech Radio). He is currently performing again and recording with a remarkably rejuvenated Precedens group with singer Iva Marešová. He is currently writing, and in February 2019 his book "Bod tání" (The Melting Point) will be published (Albatros - Plus publishing house). Němec's surreal paintings are represented in many collections in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Boris Nosek

Boris Nosek is the author and expert guarantor of the "KVĚTY 2018 – STOLETÝ PŘÍBĚH" project. The basis of all of his creative forms of expression is bravado drawing. His drawing skills were already noticed in his diploma thesis on the topic of the Prague Zoo at AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in the studio of Professor Ladislav Čepelák. He still does lithography and serigraphy. In his pictures he uses combined techniques in which he works with the embossment of latex material, into which other structural materials are embedded. The development of his work is accompanied by four distinct periods, dominated by stylization: Animals on action, highly decorative HEARTDECO, "Mimikry" (Mimicry) drawings and the mysterious "Antilopy noci" (Antelopes of the Night).

He used his experience with depicting reality in book and magazine illustrations, scientific and educational (e.g. atlas of birds and monkeys), as well as fiction, and particularly in children's literature. He also created a number of album covers and CDs for rock, folk and blues groups from Czechoslovakia. He has worked with reputable companies, hotels and restaurants to create their image, merchandising and gift items, as well as restaurant service dishes in the form of coffee and dining sets, bowls, vases and jardiniere. He lives and works in Prague.

Boris Nosek is a master of old and classical porcelain painting techniques, and he realizes his intentions on industrial shapes as well as original designs. Over the past ten years, he has been working with the "flower" theme, which is a triptych composed of a vase, a deep bowl on an ikebana and a large shallow bowl. He cuts these objects after prefiring (semi-fired porcelain without a glaze) with a high-frequency milling cutter to create completely original solitaires in painting and decor, as well as in design and shape.

For underglaze painting he uses Chinese metal salts, which have a watercolor character. In some pieces a dominant brown line is painted with gold under the glaze, contrasting with the soft pastel colors of the salt. Another example of in-glaze paint in his work is painting wth cobalt fired at 1380 °C. The paint dissolves and seeps into the glaze, giving it a soft appearance without sharp contours. Surface paint has sharp contours with a background color, e.g. black in contrast with shiny gold. In many cases, Boris Nosek etches and scrapes the black paint, and the piece therefore resembles a woodcut or linocut. He often uses an atypical technique of painting on porcelain, i.e. biscuit embossing. This technique is based on the principle of lithography - the mutual repellency of the greasy paint and water - a contour line painted with in-glaze paint repels the water-soluble glaze during firing to create the desired embossing.

Pavel Opočenský

He studied at SUPŠ (Secondary School of Applied Arts) in Jablonec nad Nisou in the field of jewelry making, and at SUPŠ (Secondary School of Applied Arts) in Turnov in the field of metal and stone working. He also trained as a metal turner. In 1979 he emigrated to Germany, and later to the US. After returning to the Czech Republic in the 1990s, he established himself as a sculptor; work with hard magmatic rock such as granite or syenite was his domain. He was among the first to use hard stone sculpting methods, which were new at the time: cutting, drilling and grinding with diamond blades. His most famous piece in our country is probably the Memorial to the Čapek Brothers located on Prague's Peace Square.

He mostly made his name with his jewelry and sculptures, he is less known as an artist. He created more than a hundred pastel drawings in the last three years in several series. The most numerous cycle, Nucleus, points to the core principle. The Olympias cycle has a slightly erotic subtext, and Evolution refers to organic morphology derived from biology. As a drawing artist, he continuously builds on his work with the precision of a jeweler and with a clear grip on shape in relation to space. His work is represented in many Czech and foreign galleries around the world. He lives and works in Prague.

Jan Paul

In his childhood, he drew cartoon series that were published by ABC. He studied to be a window dresser, and he worked various jobs including wallpaper hanging, signwriting, stonecutting and art therapy. Between 1979-1985, he studied at AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague in the studio of A. Paderlík. He created objects and installations using text in photography, and he created projects concerning the issue of human identity. Between 1988 and 1992 he led a children's art group in Dolní Počernice, and in 1995 he lectured painting within the "Teampainting pro Hypobanku" project in Prague. Between 1999 and 2003, he was one of the first columnists to write about art trade, especially the auction market; he wrote a regular two-page spread for the economic weekly Profit and Euro, as well as articles for MF Dnes, LN, Antique, and others.

Since 2004 he has devoted himself to only painting, sculpting and graphics; he paints with his fingers without the use of brushes. He takes photographs, writes poems and lyrics, and plays the guitar and harmonica. He writes essays on various cultural and social themes, and engages in curatorial and journalistic activities in the field of fine arts. He has been writing prose since 2003 (2006 Deník pošetilého milence (Diary of a Foolish Lover), 2011 O štěstí v umírání (About Happiness in Dying)). He is a member of the Association of Art Critics and Theorists. His work is represented in private collections in the Czech Republic and abroad. He lives and works in Prague.

Pavel Piekar

He studied at ČVUT (Czech Technical University) in Prague. He has been drawing since he was young, and during his studies he perfected his art under Docent Bohuslav Kutil, as well as Jenny and Jana Hladík. His active work includes graphic design, drawing, book illustrations and ex-libris. He is part of a generation that has embraced the renaissance of Czech linocut since the early 1990s. His distinctive and expressive graphics are technically challenging. He realistically depicts reality and then converts it into color linocut. His graphics are based on exact drawings, from which they are copied to individual plates - colors for the register. Depending on the complexity of the topic, the number of individual plates - colors ranges from 5 to 50 colors. His prints are original and limited-edition.

He has organized more than 70 separate exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad since the early 1990s, and he has participated in a similar number of joint exhibitions. His work has earned him recognition in the Czech Republic - he received an award in the Graphic Design of the Year competition, the Biennial of Graphic Design and Intersalon. In recent years, he has participated in the preparation and organization of exhibitions, both curatorially and organizationally. In the field of graphic design and color linocut, he is one of the most prominent artists. He is a member of the Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar, and he has also been the association's chairman since 2015. He lives and works in Prague.

Jan Pištěk

He graduated from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague, where he worked as an expert assistant in the studio of Bedřich Dlouhý in 1995. In 1993 he was chosen by American curators for a New York scholarship led by Anthony Caro. The following year he received a private scholarship in the USA in Jackson Hole (Wyoming), also in New York.

The focus of his painting lies in paraphrases of nature, meditatively conceived and expressed with the weight of colors and textured images. In the early 1990s he was interested in abstract geometric forms of clocks and the "mechanism" of vegetation growth. In the second half of the 1990s his monochrome cycle of landscapes titled "Japanese Gardens" became a distinct series. Inspired by his study of NASA spacecraft images, he became artistically and mentally interested in stars and space events after the year 2000. In his paintings he tried to express unlimited movement through space, a weightless state as a metaphor of escape to freedom and freeness. He has also recently worked with the secondary product of production. He gave the stains and splashes that naturally cover the canvas used to protect the studio floor during painting, dirt and small objects found in the surrounding area a whole new meaning and a surprising connection.

His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery in Prague, Prague City Gallery, AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou, the Behémót Gallery Collection, Kunsthalle Praha and other domestic and foreign private collections. He lives and works in Prague.

Kudy odešlo XX. století... (výřez)

J.S.

He graduated from the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague. Since 1973, he has been creating free art. Contacts in galleries abroad allowed him to reach an audience on most continents, and he presented his work at international art fairs through them. The connection of his life journey with painter Nora B. Vlášková in 1981 (+1997) significantly enriched him artistically and technically, among other things.

He views the established terms "artist" and "art" skeptically but benevolently, as well as the established values that are associated with the meaning of "art = skill".

"He is convinced that to create, one must particularly be courageous to create something of his own, something distinctive that cannot be found in nature and that captivates the human soul. This is exactly what J.S. tries to do in his imaginative and surreal paintings and drawings, carefully created with his detailed filigree technique painting style. His artwork inspired by cities, people and environment is characterized by its descriptiveness and illustrative quality, but with a rare and strong poetic and lyrical expression" ( JP ).

He organized over 70 profile exhibitions and participated in many joint projects at home and around the world. He lives and works in the Old Town of Prague.

Martin Salajka

He studied at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště in the field of applied painting; he later studied in the studio of Petr Veselý at FAVU (Faculty of Fine Arts) in Brno, and painting at AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague under Professor Michael Rittstein.

"The characteristic feature of his poetically engrossing painting is a surreal bleakness and dark atmosphere, distinctive, sometimes expressive, color, and allegorical, gloomy symbolism. The paintings, often imaginative and mysterious scenes from the night landscape, evoke seemingly calm and tense situations, creating feelings of uncertainty. The artist is trying to express the existential loneliness of man in the contrast between the world of humans and animals, in a confrontion between the city and nature. " (JP).

The paintings and graphic works are inspired by the animal realm, expressing a fascination with the water world and its dark depths, the ambience of night, animals and their wild nature.

He is one of the outstanding painters of contemporary new painting. In 2004 he was awarded the 1st place Arskontakt Award for young painting talents. He had his first independent exhibition in 2005 at the Youth Gallery in Brno, and since then he has had dozens of individual and joint exhibitions. His work is represented in private and public collections. He lives and works in Prague.

Rumen Sazdov

Since 1995, Rumen Sazdov has been registered in the MAYER auction catalog and artvalue.com art index. Art style - lyrical cubism and expressionism.

"I started drawing at the age of five, and I enjoyed making "My Things"!

The grandmother of my friend from kindergarten started teaching me; she was a pre-war academic painter. Subsequently, at the Art Gymnasium and the Academy, I decided to learn everything about anatomical drawing: the eye, hands and horses. I learned how to mix paint and create a composition.

I began enjoying being an artist, it was all very exciting.

I was able to draw, paint, sculpt, cut, glue, and "compose" my experiences and dreams with every piece of material I took into my hands.

Later in Paris, a very wise man who was also an artist told me it was "Lyrical Cubism." Beautiful words, but they are still "My Things" with my signature." (Rumen Sazdov)

Laco Sorokáč

He graduated from SPUŠ (Secondary School of Applied Arts) in Prague, and then from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague. He entered the art scene during his studies in the 1980s. He participated in several unofficial exhibitions in unusual spaces. He created a series of colorful figural wood and plaster sculptures in an expressive style. At the end of the 1980s he focused on geometric forms, but figurative expression can also be seen in his current work. In the 1990s he created expressive sculptures and objects of simple abstract shapes using tin. After 2000 he started creating stone, steel, plaster and aluminum sculptures. The sculptures are mostly abstract, but some are also figural. He was inspired by surrealistic imagination (Obava sculpture, 2010), and created a piece for a symposium in China (Skok, 2011). His biggest work so far is "Brána borců" (2008). The almost five-meter tall statue of a bent over skier styled in the shape of an inflatable sports arch welcomed the visitors to the World Ski Championships (Liberec, 2009). The statue was installed in Liberec as a symbolic gateway to the Ještěd ski and leisure complex.

He organized a number of independent and more than two dozen joint exhibitions in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia and England. He participates in international symposia in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and China. He lives and works in Prague and Sázava.

Klára Stodolová

She graduated from the V. Hollar School of Art in Prague, and then from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague, where she graduated in the Graphics II studio under Professor Vladimír Kokolia. She has painted since her childhood. She most often captures the vibrant atmosphere in forests and gardens using watercolor or pastels. Some of her work is created by etching motifs into wood and printing multicolored woodcuts. She likes plein air painting; she mostly creates bouqeuts or tree branches and other objects from nature in the studio. She typically paints vistas through branches into indefinite distances.

"Klára Stodolová is one of the most prominent colourist painters of her generation. The characteristic feature of her work is her ability to stylize reality into a convincing artistic expression and form with strong internal tension. The fresh lapidarity and apparent simplicity of her style, as well as the ability to abstract complex reality in several color blots or lines, is comparable to the qualities of Chinese ink painting."(JP)

To a lesser extent, she also paints on textiles, glass and ceramic, as well as doing graphic design. Her artworks express moods and feelings from encounters with the forest and garden world. In 2017 she won the Graphic Design of 2016 competition - in the category of relief printing. Her work is represented in collections of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She lives and works in Prague.

Eva Synková

She graduated from AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague under Professors Čepelák and Sopka. The topics and materials of her work are extensive. She moves from abstract art to realism, from pastel art on paper to large oil or acrylic paintings on canvas. In recent paintings she has returned to figural art and large formats. She is also interested in small formats, glaze wash painting with acrylic paint on cardboard, which is reminiscent of watercolor, combined with convincing drawings. She is happy to take the opportunity to try out a similar technique in painting on porcelain.

The subjects of her artistic expression are urban landscapes and lit up interiors with people, animals and objects. She finds inspiration all around, when coming home in the evening, in abandoned former JZD (agricultural cooperative) buildings, in the tram, in things and words taken out of context, in humor and in people. Her work is captivating due to its relaxed playfulness, expressive shape poetry, narrative realism and abstract sensitivity. In addition to painting, she also teaches art courses, creates projects for architecture, performs renovations and film patination, and has worked for several years as a graphic designer and head of the DTP department at the Oeconomica Publishing House. She is currently a freelancer. She lives and works in Prague.

Jana Šárová

She studied at SUPŠ (Secondary School of Applied Arts) in Český Krumlov, and at AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague in the studios of Vladimír Kokol and Tomáš Vaněk. She has been engaged in art since her youth.

Life experiences and her interest in observing her environment inspires her paintings. She finds inspiration and themes in her everyday life all around her, whether these are specific subjects, situations or stories. She emphasizes diversity and visual variety in her painting approach, as well as the freedom of use of expressive means. She views the tension that arises in the interaction of artwork as a stimulus to further thought and self-reflection. She tries to freely accept all forms of modern and postmodern art, which she uses in her work and re-evaluates whether they are realistic or abstract. She usually portrays the human figure and portraits, and some of her abstract drawings have strong imaginative potential. She also applies her free and artistically playful approach to the painting and drawing of comic books, which are often a more distinctive piece of art than a mere picture-based narrative intended for reading.

She organized a number of independent exhibitions and more than twenty group exhibitions in the Czech Republic. She lives and works in Prague.

Jan Tichý

He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

He received a number of awards in the Czech Republic and abroad, including The International Association of Art Europe award.

The work of Jan Tichý grows from the legacy of tradition, as well as discoveries of avant-garde currents. He is also inspired by today's life. He builds on the richly branched Czech landscape painting school. He illustrated a number of books, including "Výběr poezie Vladimíra Holana" (Selection of Poetry by Vladimír Holan). He also did some architectural work. Since 1991 he has also been creating original porcelain. His porcelain is used by many Czech and foreign companies as promotional items.

He also teaches at the Higher Vocational School and Václav Hollar Secondary School of Fine Arts. He regularly participates in art symposiums with the La Femme Gallery and its project "Domácí úkoly" (Homework). In 2018 he participated in a painting symposium in Jistebník. He has had independent exhibitions since 1990. He participated in dozens of independent and joint exhibitions in the Czech Republic and around the world. His work is owned by galleries around the world as well as many art collectors. He lives and works in Prague.