Václav Bláha: Out of My Head

Václav Bláha was born on April 1, 1949 in Prague. He graduated from the Václav Hollar Secondary School (1964–1968) and subsequently from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1968–1974), where he attended the studio of monumental painting with Professor Paderlík.

In his works, he mostly reflects current events or the environment that surrounds him in his work. He often works with structural painting, which is one of his favorite techniques, with the central motif of his work being the human figure and space.

Bláha is one of the founders of the free group 12/15 Late, But Still (founded in 1987), which brings together artists who entered the art scene in the 1970s in an unfavorable period of normalization. Among other members, let's name Jiří Sopek, Ivan Ouhel, Vladimír Novák or Ivan Kafka.

Bláha has been exhibiting since 1973 and his works have been exhibited in the United States, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, Austria, England, France and the Netherlands. In the Czech Republic, his works are represented, for example, in the National Gallery in Prague, Aleš's South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou or in the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region in Kutná Hora.

The envelope of exhibited drawings was created in the years 2017-18 directly for our Gema Gallery. It is a set of so-called Depositories and Maskers, through which the author recapitulates his thoughts, impressions, desires and wishes. He works with pastel, charcoal, ashes, which cover the surface of the paper with energetic strokes. Although he uses the word "Camouflage" in the title of some of the drawings, he doesn't really hide anything and is very open in his statement.