New exhibit brings seaside holidays – and the appeal of Czech naive art – to the canvas

Dreamy cityscapes set against blue skies, vaguely Mediterranean apartment blocks ringed by sea – these are the canvases of Czech painter Slávka Krátká, who is bringing her vibrant depictions of cities and towns to the upcoming Cities in a Café exhibition. The show will be on display from Aug. 8 to Sept. 9, 2024, at Kavárna co hledá jméno in Prague.

Krátká was born in 1961. Her artistic career began with studying architecture, where she discovered her love for buildings. Structures, especially houses, became the central motif of her paintings.

Thanks to her husband, the academic painter Lubomír Krátký, she devoted herself in more detail to drawing and painting techniques, choosing to work primarily with acrylic paints.

At the beginning of her career, Krátká was inclined towards cubism and abstract art but gradually found her expression in a naive style. Her works lure viewers to colorful cities and seaside villages, where each painting tells a unique story.

Since her first exhibition in Prague in 2015, where she has found success, her works have become part of private collections worldwide, from Europe and Asia to the U.S., Canada, and Australia. In addition to the permanent exhibition in the Galerie Slávky Krátké, she regularly exhibits domestically and abroad.

According to the exhibit’s curator Kristína Kadáková, Slávka draws inspiration from her surroundings, painting fictional places and projecting stories from her life into them.

“The primary emotion in her works is joy, which she wants to convey to the audience and offer them a refuge from the busy world,” writes Kadáková. She notes that houses are a signature motif in her creations, which she believes have a soul and shape our lives.

Cities in a Café exhibition will be on display from Aug. 8 to Sept. 9, 2024, at Kavárna co hledá jméno in Prague.