Jiří Petrbok

Bio

Jiří Petrbok (1962) is a distinctive member of the contemporary painting scene who primarily works alone. He is also a respected teacher who has influenced generations of emerging artists. Petrbok studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1984–1991, where he studied under Radomír Kolář and Jiří Sopko. He subsequently worked as an assistant in Jitka Svobodová’s drawing studio at the academy, which he headed from 1995 until 2023. His main themes are the human body and its internal and external transformation. By combining various techniques such as drawing, painting, and collage, he creates dynamic and often provocative images possessing a melancholic and decadent subtext. Thanks to his academic background, he has a close affinity to dark humor and the grotesque, which he combines with existential and social themes such as death, faith, politics, or the mental state of the individual. He sees himself more as an observer than a politically engaged artist, and so his works are less an objective commentary of the times than they are a subjective, introspective record of the contemporary atmosphere and emotions. The work of Jiří Petrbok is regularly shown at exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad, he enjoys the interest of private collectors, and his art can be found in numerous public collections as well, among them the National Gallery Prague, Prague City Gallery, and the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region.