openning 13. 9. 2023 at 18:00
Gallery 1
Artist: Jan Merta
Curator: Michal Koleček

The city of Ústí nad Labem is often viewed as having no significant influence on the development of contemporary art, but, closer examination many interesting connections that, at the very least, challenge this notion. Jan Merta, one of the key figures of contemporary Czech painting, was born in 1952, and his story illustrates how, both in the past and present, this city situated on the cultural periphery has provided important impulses for the artistic growth of undeniably creative personalities and has thus helped shape the greater art scene in general. The exhibition Jan Merta’s School of Folk Art, which is being hosted by the Ústí nad Labem House of Arts, is based on memories from the artist’s adolescence, a period of time spanning from 1966 to 1972, during which he lived in the city, as well as from frequent visits with his parents, who lived here too until 1989, as Jan’s father, Hynek Merta, was as a pastor in the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren.

Gallery 3
Artist: Jan Krtička
Curator: Adéla Machová

Space and sound – two elements that Jan Krtička (1979,) has been focusing on in his artistic work for several years. He reflects the environments created by them in various thematic projects, from sharing personal experience, through environmental issues to social aspects. In a newly prepared project for Gallery 3, Jan Krtička explores and processes the soundtracks of the Icelandic town of Seydisfjördur and its surroundings. What does nature itself sound like where we live? And how is the landscape shaped by man’s active intervention in various ways?