Petr Kvíčala

Petr Kvíčala (*1960) graduated from the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts in Brno; he was banned from studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague by the communist regime for ideological reasons. Since the mid-1980s, he has developed his geometric abstract painting based on his early landscape paintings. The basic elements of his visual language include ornamental lines that intersect with each other and are arranged in layers. Kvíčala’s inspiration by “low” culture is seen in his use of handicraft elements and industrial products. He also works with large monochromatic surfaces filling the space between the ornaments. Besides large-format paintings, graphic prints and murals, he creates installations directly based on painting principles. He received the Grand Prix of the Society of Czech Architects 2006 for one of his architectural interventions. One of his creative stages was guided by his interest in the optical effects of parallel lines followed by a more classic stage of contemporary abstraction. He currently heads the Painting Studio III at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology; in the past, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. He is a holder of the Honorary Jindřich Chalupecký Award 1991.