British Punk Painter Re-Imagines Mucha in New Prague Exhibit

Celebs as Mucha muses plus plenty of references to Czech pop-culture make up this colorful new show at Černá Labuť gallery through October

Elizabeth Zahradnicek-Haas

Written by Elizabeth Zahradnicek-Haas Published on 16.09.2016 10:26:07 (updated on 16.09.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

A new exhibition opening this month at Černá Labuť gallery brings the Stuckist paintings of an English artist and member of the punk band Penetration to the Czech Republic for the first time.

The artworks presented in Paul Harvey: From London to the Czech Avant-Garde also have a local connection, incorporating themes from Czech cinematography and the Czech surrealists of the early 20th century.

Kino XXXVII Jaroslava Schallerova II, 2016
Kino XXXVII Jaroslava Schallerova II, 2016

Harvey frequently utilizes the Art Nouveau style of Czech painter Alphonse Mucha in his portfolio of Stuckist paintings (Stuckism is a movement initiated in the late 1990s that is focused on figurative painting) which includes renderings of celebrities like Madonna and Nigella Lawson as Mucha muses.

Unfinished Business, 2011
Unfinished Business, 2011

Scenes from the films of Vera Chytilová, snowy Czech vistas, and the interior of the Hotel Evropa all make an appearance in Harvey’s vivid work, which has appeared in galleries throughout the UK and France.

Founder of Stuckism Charles Thomson, as well as leading Czech Stuckist, Jiří Hauschka, have had solo shows at Černá labuť. An exhibition of Jaroslav Valečka, another highly regarded Czech Stuckist artist, is forthcoming.

Fruit of Paradise (Věra Chytilová), 2016
Fruit of Paradise (Věra Chytilová), 2016

The exhibit is now on display until October 23. The gallery is open Saturday-Sunday from 14:00-19:00; private tours may be arranged by contacting: art@cernalabut.cz.

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