Street Meets (Mural) Art
Artistic interventions by Czech visual artists in public spaces in selected foreign cities (both metropolitan areas and regions) carried out in cooperation with local partners according to an umbrella assignment that reflects the common theme of Neighbourhood-Community-reciprocity and general principles embodied in the programmes of Czech Centres prepared on the occasion of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2022 (e.g. sustainability, accessibility).
Leading Czech artists, illustrators, designers and comic book creators have created a free series of large-scale mural paintings created in the specific context of a particular place (both topographically and in terms of occasion), which remain in the public space of the given country. The realisations also include the use of typographic abbreviations or alternatives to mobile works, which have a travelling ambition.
The theme of neighbourhood-community-reciprocity relates to the need for belonging, understanding and continuous cooperation in everyday life. An important aspect is the care of public space, which can be given a new dimension through appropriately chosen art forms to improve the quality of life in the urban environment. The reciprocal component of the project connects Czech art with foreign art in conjunction with local governments and festival events.
The project was created in co-production by Czech Centres and the LUSTR festival and presents not only European values of dialogue, solidarity and mutuality, but also young Czech artists and the current state of Czech illustration.
Artists involved in the project
Aleksi Ivanov
Aleksi Ivanov is a Bulgarian curator, illustrator and muralist. He took his first steps in mural art in 2003, experimenting with techniques and media that were unsuitable at the time. Ivanov strives to involve artists who have recognisable styles but lack experience and background in this field in street art and contemporary muralism. He is also interested in social, cultural and environmental issues and works precisely with the space where he creates his works. Together with fellow artist Nikolay Petrov - Glow and architect Nikola Vasilev, he is a co-founder of the Citywise Foundation.
Mural address: Manětínská, 323 00 Plzeň 1, Czechia
Ilona Polanski
She is one of the best-known and busiest Czech illustrators. She studied illustration and graphic design at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. After her studies, she founded the illustration duo Tomski&Polanski with her friend Luk Tomski. Her style is based on robust figurative stylisation and colourful surfaces, playfulness and simplicity. She mainly focuses on book and magazine illustration, but she particularly enjoys large-scale wall paintings.
Mural address: David Tidhar St, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Daniela Herodesová
Illustrator from Prague. She graduated from the media illustration studio at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art in Pilsen. She mainly creates figurative illustrations with a focus on stylisation and character emotions, all in a purely digital environment using textures and bold colours. She is the author of a comic strip in the award-winning book IOGI and a mural of exercising characters in Pilsen. Her work and illustrations can also be seen in books, magazines and on social media.
Address: 34 Vazha Pshavela Ave, T'bilisi 0177, Georgia
Patrik Antczak
A graduate of graphic design at the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and one of the most acclaimed Czech illustrators of today. He enjoys working with paper and has published his own book, Alfabeta (2018), which teaches children letters while also developing their aesthetic sensibility and fine motor skills through cutting and gluing. He illustrates for book production and commercial brands, focusing primarily on children's audiences. He has created several mural paintings, the largest of which is located on the university campus in Ústí nad Labem and covers the entire side of a three-storey building.
Mural address: Nassausingel 6, 4811 DE Breda, Netherlands
Tomáš Starý
Freelance graphic designer and visual artist. Actively involved in graffiti and public space art. However, he also applies his aesthetic sensibility to other related disciplines, such as user environment design, websites, logotypes and visual identities. In 2020, he successfully completed his studies at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he focused primarily on industrial and product design.
Address of the mural: 11 Deliyska Vodenitsa Street, 1582 Druzhba 2 Residential Complex, Sofia, Bulgaria
Maria Makeeva
Illustrator and graduate of the Illustration and Graphic Design Studio at UMPRUM in Prague. She currently works on illustrations for books and magazines, as well as her own creative work – interior screen-printed graphics, posters and greeting cards. She has been nominated four times for the Czech Grand Design Award in the Illustrator of the Year category and has long been one of the most popular and best-selling illustrators in the Czech Republic. Her simple style is based on clean monochrome surfaces, and she enjoys working with mythological themes.
Mural address: Sibiu, Romania
Jakub Bachorik
He graduated from the Illustration and Graphic Design studio at UMPRUM in Prague and focuses mainly on book illustration and graphic design, especially relief printing and festive lithography. He enjoys working with large-format prints, such as woodcuts created with a saw and a milling cutter. With his series of large-scale paintings depicting contemporary conspiracy theories, Ne-u-vě-ři-tel-ná fantasmagorie (Unbelievable Phantasmagoria), he was nominated for the title of Illustrator of the Year 2021 in the Czech Grand Design awards. In addition to large-scale projects, he mainly focuses on book illustration and dabbles in comics.
Address of the mural: Veszprém, Külső-Kádártai út, 8200 Hungary
Petra Dočekalová
Graphic designer and typographer. She focuses on Czechoslovak lettering, calligraphy and lettering. In her doctoral thesis at the Studio of Type Design and Typography at UMPRUM in Prague, she dealt with cultivating an approach to writing, handwriting and personal handwriting. She is the editor and author of a number of books, notably TYPO9010 (2015) and Jaroslav Benda 1882–1970 (2019). She lectures at typography conferences and organises workshops abroad. She works at the Briefcase Type Foundry, where she develops new typefaces.
Address of the mural: Tadeusza Kościuszki 4, 58-400 Kamienna Góra, Poland
Mural address: Emilii Plater 31, 00-688 Warsaw, Poland
Přemysl Černý
Illustrator and graphic designer working mainly with drawings and collages. His style stands out for its distinctive handwriting, playfulness, lightness and sense of humour. Together with Lukáš Beran, he co-founded the Černý beran studio. Since 2017, he has been working independently at Studio Bunkr and also works as a teacher. He likes to create analogously, with his hands, and is particularly fond of the monotype technique.
Mural location: Madrid, Spain
David Strauzz
A Canadian street artist with Czech roots. He currently lives in Prague and has set up his studio in the Pragovka Art District in Vysočany. His parents are from Czechoslovakia, from where they emigrated to Canada in the early 1970s. He was born in London, Ontario, and studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto. In 2012, he moved to the United States, where he exhibited his work in Boston and New York. Three years later, he decided to return to his roots and settled in the Czech Republic. He exhibits throughout Europe and develops his work focused on the theme of "Places and Faces".
Address of the mural: Via Enrico Fermi, Ispra VA, Italy
David Krňanský
A former street artist and graduate of Jiří Černický and Marek Meduna's painting studio at UMPRUM in Prague. He belongs to a group of painters who met in this studio and together created a unique visual language characteristic of an entire generation. This can be formally defined primarily by a sweeping gestural style, recognisable morphology and respect for the basic colours of the colour spectrum. His stylisation is based on geometric shapes, and he often works abstractly. He lives alternately in Prague and Athens.
Mural address: Filippou, Keratsini 187 57, Greece
Nikola Logosová
An illustrator with Greek roots. She gained her first experience as a student of illustration and graphic design at UMPRUM in Prague. She is one of the most prominent and acclaimed contemporary Czech illustrators, and among other things, she holds the title of Illustrator of the Year 2019 (Czech Grand Design Award). She has illustrated a number of books for children and adults, creates posters for music clubs, and has a particular fondness for illustrated atlases and travelogues. Her style is notable for its level of detail, great sophistication and imaginative compositions that make decorative use of imagery.
Mural address: Filippou, Keratsini 187 57, Greece
Tomáš Starý
Freelance graphic designer and visual artist. Actively involved in graffiti and public space art. However, he also applies his aesthetic sensibility to other related disciplines, such as user environment design, websites, logotypes and visual identities. In 2020, he successfully completed his studies at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he focused primarily on industrial and product design.
Mural address: Plovdiv, Bulgaria
David Böhm and Jiří Franta
Visual artists and illustrators. They met while studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and work as a creative duo. Together, they have been nominated three times for the prestigious Jindřich Chalupecký Art Prize, and their books have also won awards such as the Der Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis, the Bologna Ragazzi Award and the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Both focus primarily on illustration and fine art. David is also the author of a number of children's books, while Jiří has published the successful autobiographical comic Single (2019). For their illustrations in the book Město pro každého (A City for Everyone, 2021), they jointly won the Illustrator of the Year 2021 award in the Czech Grand Design poll. They enjoy experimenting, trying new things and inventing.
Mural address: Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QY, United Kingdom
