Jan Pištěk (born 1961) belongs to the generation of creators that entered the art scene in the mid-1980s and fundamentally shaped the entire post-revolutionary period. He is intrinsically linked to postmodernism, which introduced him to a cosmopolitan environment as well as an expanded conception of the image and imagery. From this grows Pištěk’s interest in the sign, the composition of forms, and the technological process of painting, as well as its philosophical dimension.
In 1980, Pištěk graduated from the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Prague (known as "Hollarka"), and from 1980 to 1986, he continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he became an assistant professor in 1990 and spent five years in the painting studio (under Professor Bedřich Dlouhý). During the 1990s, his collaboration with the Behémót Gallery in Prague was significant, and he was one of its core artists. His trips across the ocean (the Triangle Artist’s Workshop in New York and a study trip through the American Midwest) and direct experience with an international environment had a strong influence on his thinking and future direction.
Alongside his independent work, he also worked as a costume designer for film and theater between 1997 and 2007. He collaborated with his father, Theodor Pištěk, on large-scale American productions filmed in the Czech Republic and on lavish Czech musicals. Independently, he participated in projects for the Forman Brothers Theatre on the Tajemství boat and at the National Theatre.
The exhibition at the Royal Summer Palace at Prague Castle is a reconstruction of the formative events and the conceptual and stylistic transformations that Pištěk's work has undergone. At the same time, it is a selection of his key works—featuring pieces from major state and private collections, as well as new work from recent years, in which Pištěk vividly returns to certain themes. In the impressive setting of the Royal Summer Palace, the story of the painter's work unfolds, starting from 1988 to the present day.
The exhibition curator is Barbora Kundračíková.
