About the gallery
We are opening the Art brut Prague Gallery as the first exhibition space in Prague focused exclusively on the work of artists who, for various reasons, are unable or unwilling to join the mainstream art scene.
“Here, things are raised proudly
and more stabbingly,
the world is full of edges
on which we have
hurt ourselves many times.”
The quote, taken from Josef Čapek’s groundbreaking book The Most Modest Art, will greet all visitors at the entrance as a foreshadowing of the type of work they will encounter here.
To clearly define the gallery, the name was chosen after the painter Jean Dubuffet’s famous term art brut – usually translated in Czech as “art in its raw state”.
But not all the artists the gallery will represent necessarily fall into the category of art brut as it is usually conceived. Some of them, for various reasons, become outsiders, not even classifiable in this field.
The selection of the artists is basically conditioned by the absence of any conscious calculation in their work aimed at achieving success in the world of contemporary art.
The gallery also wants to support its artists by making their works available for sale.
Exhibitions
Maaz Ali and Daniel Moser
Inventions of a City
Vynalézat město
Curators of the exhibition: Lutz Krutein und Christian Vittinghoff
The 34th exhibition at Art Brut Praha Gallery has been created in collaboration with the IDYLLEREI Kunstraum studio in Nuremberg and presents two distinctive artists from its circle.
Daniel Moser (b. 1983) focuses primarily on urban landscapes, rendering intricate networks of streets and houses. Despite a severe visual impairment—which allows him to see only a small portion of the image at a time—he produces remarkably extensive city plans. His imagination is nourished by print and digital media, which he can observe at his own pace, unlike the fleeting impressions of the real world. Occasional speech bubbles, carrying comments from his figures, evoke the visual language of comic books. Daniel also presents his work on his personal website and consistently includes copyright notices on his drawings, which he holds in high regard.
Maaz Ali (b. 1994) is likewise drawn to the urban environment. As a teenager, he began sketching various places in Nuremberg, and when he first came to IDYLLEREI Kunstraum in 2015, he brought with him kilograms of drawings and sketches. He enjoys assembling his creations into multi-meter-long compositions, which he subsequently repaints, re-glues, or rearranges in new configurations—like a city that is constantly growing and simultaneously falling apart. Maaz often depicts subway and tram stations as well as public transport vehicles, paying close attention to the pictograms, logos, and other graphic symbols that shape the visual landscape of the city.
The IDYLLEREI Kunstraum studio was founded in 2011 by artist Christian Vittinghoff, inspired by his experience at the Skåne Art Center in Sweden. In 2013, Lutz Krutein joined the studio’s management. Around twenty artists work there, receiving materials, professional guidance, and a protected environment in which they can pursue their own independently developed ideas and projects.
Formally, IDYLLEREI operates under WerkStadt Lebenshilfe Nürnberg, which is part of the German Lebenshilfe association and provides employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. The studio also organizes exhibitions and enters its artists in competitions and art fairs. Every two years, Nuremberg hosts the inclusive and barrier-free IDYLLEREI International Festival, which the Joyful Creativity Studio from Prague has also been participating in since 2024.
About the authors
The main circle of authors is formed by the persons who create in the Studio of Joyful Creation at Letná: Dagmar Filípková, Šárka Hojaková, Dominik Jirsa, Jarmila Jandová, Marie Kohoutková, Václav Kuklík, Marie Kůsová, Lorenzo, Karel Pajma, Lukáš Paleček, Vojtěch Proske, George Radojčič, Iveta Riminka Filí, Ladislav Svoboda will be presented here.
However, internationally known names such as Anna Zemánková or Zdeněk Košek will also be represented. Other authors who have already gained attention include Hana Fousková, La Inthonkaew, Ota Prouza, Helena Skalická and Tomáš Krupka.
Practical information
The gallery will be open five afternoons a week, Tuesday to Saturday 2 – 7pm.
www.artbrutpraha.cz
artbrut.praha@gmail.com
+420 606 028 942 (during opening hours)
+420 602 646 665 (out of hours)
Postal address: Galerie Art brut Praha, Resslova 300/6,
120 00 Praha 2 – Nové Město.
About the place and the founder
The gallery acquired its space after the renovation of a long unused technical building at St. Wenceslas Church in Zderaz.
The operator is the Altán Art association, which has so far been active mainly in Letná: in 2013 it opened the Studio of Joyful Creation here as the first Czech studio providing facilities for artists falling into the category of art brut, and in 2017 it opened up also to the wider public by establishing the ART Cultural and Community Centre, where senior citizens and people with disabilities develop their artistic interests together. Vladimír Drábek is the main representative of the association. More information on the website www.altanart.cz .
Curator
Jaromír Typlt (1973) is a poet, performer and essayist. During 2000-2010 he worked in Liberec as a curator of photography and contemporary art exhibitions at the Small Exhibition Hall and then at the U Rytíře Gallery. Since the end of the 1990s he has also helped to promote the work of overlooked authors, publishing the first book on Zdeněk Košek (2001), literary texts by Hana Fousková, František Novák and many others. In 2018, he started cooperation with the association Altán Art. He has long focused on the topic of “écrits bruts” – written expressions in art brut.
Gallery partners
Studio of Joyful Creation at Letná
Czechoslovak Hussite Church in Prague 2 – New Town
Graphic studio chapter
abcd praha
Media partners
Analogon
Revolver Revue
Souvislosti
I am convinced that a considerable circle of artists, those interested in art brut and the
Pavel Konečný, art brut collector
professional public can form around the Art Brut Prague gallery in a very short time. The
project is a positive response not only to initiatives stemming from the vibrant undercurrent of
our spontaneous creativity, but also responds to calls from foreign cultural institutions to
strengthen the voice of outsider art, including by improving intercultural cooperation and
dialogue across European borders.