Jiří Černický (born 1 August 1966, Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech visual artist
who is known as an author of experimental intermedia projects. His work often moves
between various media and it is not entirely clear which medium prevails – whether video art,
visual poetry or photography. His work is often characterized by a social and political
commitment associated with the violating of social taboos.
In 1997 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in the Departments of Miloš
Šejn and Jiří David. He also studied at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Jan Evangelista
Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design
in Prague in the Department of Adéla Matasová.
Jiří Černický is a winner of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award, the Soros Award and the 48th
October Salon Award (in Belgrade, Serbia). He was a finalist for the Alice Francis Award.
For a long time his presence on the art scene has been very radical and conspicuous. The
common basis of his often very disparate projects can be most aptly described as fictional
scenarios. Černický subsequently concentrates these in various media, which he often
combines within complex exhibition constellations. He confidently alternates between easel
painting and objects, video and photography. He uses strategies based on action art as well as
new media technologies. He does not avoid strong emotions, social criticism and prediction of
the future. Just as he unsettles the sharp dividing line between reality and fiction, he
undermines and liberates unbearable pathos through ironic humor. Černický’s equilibristic
skill at balancing all these components has protected his projects from the risk of an empty
morality, a too obvious wit or a convoluted boredom.
Jiří Černický
Born 1966 in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
Lives and works in Prague.
Education
1993–1997 – Academy of Fine Arts, Prague
1990–1993 – Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague
Awards
2020 – Main Prize of the Graphic Art of the Year, The Vladimír Boudník Award
2012 – Finalist of the Alice Francis Award
2007 – 48th October Salon Award, Beograd, Serbia
1998 – The Jindřich Chalupecký Award, Prague
1996 – The Soros Award, Prague
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Krabat’s Apartment, Miroslav Kubík Gallery, Litomyšl
Real Visions of the Oracle, NoD, Prague
Weed of the Tartan, Špejchar Gallery, Chomutov
Two Decimal Points in the Middle of a Sentence, Trafačka Gallery, Prague
Born in Fire, Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
2022
Sebevdech, Ateliér Jozefa Sudka. Praha
Kontemplace aktivistů, M. Černická / J. Černický, Galerie Cifra, České Švýcarsko.
Magické aktuality (Vzpoura lenochodů) M. Černická / J. Černický,
Severočeská galerie výtvarných umění v Litoměřicích.
2021
Kinetic Architecture, Luxfer Gallery, Česká Skalice
Dharmanautica 4300 A.D., with Pavel Pepperstein, DSC Gallery, Prague
2020
The Future of Snow, Via Art Gallery, Prague
2019
Iconoclast, Ján Koniarek Gallery in Trnava, Slovakia
Nobody Readable, Kunsthale CCC Beijing, China
Other Kind of Painting, New Gallery, Prague
Jiří Černický, Masna Gallery, Slavonice
2018
Salm Modern #1: Dimensions of Dialogue, National Gallery in Prague – Salm Palace,Prague
OBJEKTívne, Kunsthalle Bratislava, Slovakia
Utopus ČSR, Time for New Utopias, Galéria umelcov Spiša, Spišská Nová Ves,Slovakia
With a Kite at One’s Back, Futura Gallery, Prague
Trump versus Godzilla, DSC Gallery, Prague
Spiritualist Science, Arsenale Gallery, Bjalystok, Poland
Aviary for Aircraft, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia
2017
New Energy of Stars, video installation, New Stage of the National Theater, Prague
Total Global, Čermák Eisenkraft Gallery, Prague (with Milan Kunc)
War Zone, Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic (with Pavel Kopřiva)
Spiritualist Science, Chapel Gallery, Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic
2016
Wild Dreams, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
Methodical Dreams, Kunsthalle Košice, Slovakia
2015
Dangerous Paintings on Paper, Kavka Book Gallery, Prague
Real Minimalism, Josef Sudek Gallery, Prague
Steel Head, Plató Gallery, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Dolby Painting – Conquest of Dante’s Hell by Thor Heyerdahl, Adam Gallery, Brno,
Czech Republic
2014
The Day Snow Fell on a Burning Field, SPZ Gallery, Prague
The Image that Looks like a Painting, Fokus Café, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
2013
Dolby Painting, Dvorak Sec Contemporary Gallery, Prague
2010
Kefir Path, Woxart Gallery, Prague
The Gagarin Thing, Václav Špála Gallery, Prague
Minimally Intensive, Town Gallery, Blansko, Czech Republic
ABS, Muzeum Jed(y)nygo obiektu Toruń, Poland
2009
Věci, kterých mi není líto, Muzeu V. Löfflera Košice, Slovensko
IFO archiv, atelier J. Sudka, Praha
2008
ABS video, SPACE Gallery, Cleveland, USA
Well, one never does the most important things anyway…,
Emil Filla Gallery, Ústi nad Labem
2007
ABS video, Futura Gallery, Prague
You, Artsdepot Gallery, London, UK (with Tereza Severová)
ABS video, Galleria Traghetto, Venezia, Italy
ABS video, Brno Gallery, Brno
2006
Bindings, Die Aktualitat des Schonen Gallery, Liberec
Pincushions, Steinek Gallery, Vienna, Austria
2005
ABS Story, JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY, Prague
The Gagarin Thing, Vivid Centre for Media Arts, Birmingham, UK
2003
Spirit of the East on the West, Sokolská Gallery, Ostrava
2002
Brand New Rubbish, JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY, Prague
Bin Laden’s Lamp, Noname Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Au-Pair Medusa’s Room, Lara Vincy Gallery, Paris, France
2001
META Pop, Miroslav Kraljević Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Hard Pop Expo, mama Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2000
Czech Front Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
The Luxury Of Grief, POST Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Bin Laden’s Lamp, Václav Špála Gallery, Prague
1999
BA ROCK, Alergic, City Gallery, Prague
1998
Gentleman’s Room, Polish Sculpture Centre, Oronsko, Poland
Akademie der Kunste, Berlin, Germany
1996
St. Game, Emil Filla Gallery, Ústi nad Labem
The Art, Pecka Gallery, Prague
1991
Open Border of the Flat, Ústi nad Labem (with Pavel Kopřiva)
Exhibition, Mala Gallery, Liberec (with P. Kopřiva)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Krabat’s Apartment, Miroslav Kubík Gallery, Litomyšl
Real Visions of the Oracle, NoD, Prague
Weed of the Tartan, Špejchar Gallery, Chomutov
Two Decimal Points in the Middle of a Sentence, Trafačka Gallery, Prague
Born in Fire, Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
2022
Self-Breathing, Josef Sudek Studio, Prague
Contemplation of Activists, Michaela and Jiří Černický, Cifra Gallery, Bohemian
Switzerland
Magical News (Esotery of the Sloths), Michaela and Jiří Černický, North Bohemian
Gallery of Fine Arts in Litoměřice
2021
Nicht-Museum zeitgemäßer Kunst Dresden, Neumarkt Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Nova Forma 1, industrial area of Gumárna (rubber factory) in Čáslav, Čáslav
Artrooms Moravany – The Future of the Wheel, Moravany nad Váhom Château,
Slovakia
Mikulov Art Symposium – Diopters of Medusa, Mikulov
Signal Festival – Archaic Topicalities, The Karlín Barracks, Prague
Disturbed Balance Revisited, House of Arts in Ústí nad Labem
2020
Exhibition of Czech Glass, 8smička Gallery, Humpolec,
Graphic Art of the Year, Vladimír Boudník Award, Imperial Stables of Prague Castle,
Prague
Distant Nature, Knoll Gallery, Vienna
2019
Boudník, Moravian Gallery, Brno
Orient V, Prague City Gallery, Prague
Retina, Possibilities of Painting, 8smička Gallery, Humpolec
Velvet Exhibition, Emil Filla Gallery, Ústí nad Labem
The Power of the Powerless, Kunsthalle Bratislava, Slovakia
2018
Conditions of Impossibility VI/VII: Technical Detail, Foundation and Center for Contemporary Art Prague + Cursor Gallery, Prague
Energy of the Initial Line – Gesture, Rhythm, Movement in Contemporary Czech Art, The Gallery of Modern Art, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Textile Tribute – Textile within the Context of Art, 8mička Gallery, Humpolec, Czech Republic
Paneland – Moravian Gallery, Brno, Czech Republic Alienation in the Dictionary Definition – Emil Filla Gallery, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
View from V4, Art Thema Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2017
The Black, New Gallery, Prague Panel Apartment House, Moravian Gallery, Brno, Czech Republic
Soulful Interiors, West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen, Masné krámy exhibition hall, Pilsen, Czech Republic
Tribes, Moravian Gallery, Brno, Czech Republic
Recycling Ideologies, Emil Filla Gallery, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
Extended Painting – contemporary painting from Prague, Bačva Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
2016
Writing the City, Prague 4 + 4 Days in Motion, Prague
Komercionál; performance “Nobody Readable”, Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic
Irreversible Shift, The Brno House of Art, Czech Republic
2015
From the Floor, Emil Filla Gallery, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
Performance – Diverting the Danube from Hungary, presentation of the project to
transform the existing filter in the area of Dolní Vítkovice, National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic
2014
7th New Zlín Salon 2014, Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín, Czech Republic
The Day Snow Fell on a Burning Field, Gallery of Fine Art in Cheb (Eger), Czech Republic
Charlie’s Proun, Tutti Frutti Festival of Contemporary Art and Culture, Bratislava, Slovakia
Works on Paper, Fanatics of Paper, Dvorak Sec Contemporary Gallery, Prague
Real Minimalism, About the Chair, 2014 Biennial of Photography and Visual Art in Liege, Belgium
2013
Arts under Influences, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2012
Islands of Resistance, National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic
The Beginning of the Century, West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen, Czech Republic
AVIFF Cannes, France
AVIFF Marrakesh Film Festival, Morocco
AVIFF South Africa – Grahamstown – National Arts Festival, South Africa
2011 Images of the Mind, German Hygiene Museum in Dresden, Germany
Moravian Gallery in Brno, Czech Republic
Inter-View 2, Nitra Gallery, Nitra, Slovakia
Mutating Medium, Photography in Czech Art 1990–2010, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
Recycling, Nod Roxy, Prague
2010
Planeta Eden, Dům umění města Brna, Brno, Centrum souč. um. DOX Praha.
Ekonomie nechtěných přátelství,Karlín studios, Praha
To co chybí, GUMstudio, Carrara, Italy
Minimal Difference, White box gallery, New York, USA
Formáty transformace, Dům pánů z Kunštátu. Brno
Format of Transformations 89 – 09, MUSA auf Abruf Vienna, Austria.
A Part of No-Part, Parallelisms Between Then and Now, Chelsea, Museum,New York, USA
City Dreamer, Galerie E. Filly, Ústí nad Labem
Absurdit? Groteska? Ironie?, galerie NOD, experimentálná prostor ROXY, Praha
2009
Czech Photogtaphy of 20th century, Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutchland GmbH, Bonn, Germany.
Čtrnáct S, Centrum souč. um. DOX, Praha
Hell of things, Kronika Gallery, Bytom, Poland
2008
Reflecting Words, Museum of Czech Literature, Prague
Ultra, Zdeněk Sklenář Gallery, Prague
Performance – Nobody Redible, Zen Buddhist Temple in Changchun, China
Social Dialogue, Motorenhalle, Dresden, Germany
Place in Heart, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, Poland
What do you do for a living?, <rotor>, Graz, Austria
Rebus sic stantibus, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum, Turku, Finland
Central Europe Revisited, Esterhazy Castle, Eisenstadt, Austria
Loophole to the Universe, Divus Unit 30, London, UK
2007
Art & Crtiticism, ICA, Dunaujvaros, Hungary
Demolition, The Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon, Israel
Micro-Narratives, 48th October Salon, Beograd, Serbia
Fragment.cz, Castello Di Rivara, Italy
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Urania National Movie Theatre,
Budapest, Hungary
Gross Domestic Product, City Gallery, Prague
Form Follows Risk, Futura Gallery, Prague; National Gallery, Bratislava,
Slovakia
2006
Frisbee, Sokolská Gallery, Ostrava
Hotel Chalupecký, Motorenhalle, Dresden, Germany
Apres Dada?, Lara Vincy Gallery, Paris, France
Shadows of Humour, Bielska Gallery, Bielsko Biala, Poland
Places for Small Stories, Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli, Naples, Italy
Hot/Cold? – Summer Loving, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw,Poland
Shadows of Humour, Avantgarde Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland
2005
Cultural Domesticacion / Instinctual Desire, Centre for the Visual Arts
Gallery, Toledo, USA
Czech Photography of the 20th Century, City Gallery, Prague
Praguebiennale2: Expanded Painting, Karlin Hall, Prague
Nature’s Mirror, Otowa, Tokyo, Japan
Domicile, Musee d’Art Moderne, Saint Etienne, France
The Giving Person, Palazzo delle Arti Napoli, Naples, Italy
2004
I Grandi Magazzini dell’Arte, Palazzo delle Papesse, Centro Arte
Contemporanea, Siena, Italy
E.U. Positive, Akademie der Kunste, Berlin, Germany
Dialogue Los Angeles / Prague, Barnsdall Municipal Art Gallery, Los
Angeles, USA
Turning the Page, KOGART, Budapest, Hungary
Passage d’Europe, Musee d’Art Moderne, Saint Etienne, France
Suit Yourself! Museum for Communication, The Hague, The Netherlands
2003
Balkan Konsulat, <rotor>, Graz, Austria
Aus Liebe, Die Generation der neuziger Jahre aus Prag, Landesmuseum Bonn, Germany
Praguebiennale1, National Gallery – Veletržní Palace, Prague
Elektrobot, Home Gallery, Prague
Exhibition on the Body of Nehad Bogdanović, Man Gallery, Serbia
2002
Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Corps et traces, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, France
40 Jahre: Fluxus und die Folgen, Kunstsommer Wiesbaden,
Karstadt, Wiesbaden, Germany
Art Dans la Ville, Hotel Colcombet, Saint-Etienne, France
Werkstatt Junge Akademie, Akademie der Kunste Berlin, Germany
2001
A Sense of Wellbeing, Palace of the Imperial Thermal Baths, Carlsbad
Triennial of Small Scale Sculpture, Fellbach, Germany
Youth Salon, Zagreb Fair Building, Zagreb, Croatia
2000
East of Eden, Wyspa Gallery, Gdansk, Poland
Actual Infinity, City Gallery, Prague
Bohemian Birds – Positions of Czech Contemporary Art, Kunst Haus Dresden, Germany
Story, Rock Club Roxy, Prague
The End of The World, National Gallery – Veletržní Palace, Prague
Place and Between, Bergen, Norway
All You Need is Love, Laznia Center of Polish Art, Gdansk, Poland
1999
After the Wall, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Ludwig Museum,
Budapest, Hungary; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
Against All – The Chalupecký Award Winners, Central Exhibition Hall
Manege, Moscow, Russia
Czech Landscape, Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Germany
Flirting with the Foreigners, Czech Centre, London, UK
Fauna, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
Rondo, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Hungary
1998
Developed, Czech Centre, Berlin, Germany
Czech Landscape, Museum of Contemporary Art, Altkirch, France
1997
Born ‘68, Czech Centre, Berlin, Germany
1996
Dawn of the Magicians, National Gallery – Veletržní Palace, Prague
Respect, Villa Richter, Prague
1995
Crossing of Meridians, Monastery in Plasy
Test Run, Mánes Gallery, Prague
1993
Landscape, City Gallery, Prague
Selected Public Collections
National Gallery, Prague
City Gallery, Prague
Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, USA
Museum for Applied Art / Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
Musee d’Art Moderne, Saint Etienne, France
Selected Private Collections
Richard Adam, Prague
Pavel Kneppo, Prague
Thomas Day Newbold, Prague, Washington, USA
Bert-Jan van Egteren, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Santiago Eder, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kenneth L. Freed, Boston, USA
Habib Kheradyar, Los Angeles, USA
Jerry Speyer, New York, USA
Residency
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany
Tent Gallery and Mama gallery, Rotterdam, Nederland
Headlands, San Francisco, USA
Vivid Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, USA
Futura Gallery, Trebesice castle, Czech Republic