About Jiri Ptacek

Honoring Tradition, Defying Convention:

The Artistic Vision of Jiri Ptacek

I was born in Prague in 1977 and showed a keen interest in painting at a very young age. After 4 years of private art lessons I was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where I studied for my Master’s degree in Fine Art, graduating in 2001. Exhibitions of my work have been held in Prague, extensively throughout the Czech Republic, and in Berlin.

I work in various styles, using different themes to reflect the wonder and complexity of the world in which we live. My three collections to date:

THE WAY THROUGH THE DARKNESS
Partly inspired by my experience of living in Berlin as a teenager and by my fascination with the natural darkness of the night sky and its power to change the form of whatever is below it. Dark, both in theme and style, these almost monochromatic pictures capture a feeling of isolation and melancholy, focussing on industrial and urban landscapes, docks, or lonely and deserted shores.

PERFECT WORLD COLLECTION
Inspired by my travels to such places as the Dominican Republic, the Canary Islands, Brazil, California, and by my home in Devon. The images are beautiful, simple, and striking, using uncomplicated and positive themes to create a vision of a calm, peaceful, and an almost inhumanly perfect world.

METAMORPHOSIS COLLECTION
Inspired by the fragility of life, the inevitability of change and my interest in the metaphysical. Painted with acryllics, ink and other media, the translucent water-colour effect creates an ethereal atmosphere, giving the subject matter a compelling multi-layered depth and mystery. The images explore the beauty of organic forms and natural forces, both large and small, through growth and decay.
I feel an affinity with the work of British artist Anthony Garratt and Norwegian artist Ørnulf Opdahl.

My main studio is in Prague, but I also work in the UK, which offers fantastic opportunities for painting coastline, sea and wild open landscapes such as Dartmoor.