Robert Šalanda

Bio

Robert Šalanda (born 1976 in Olomouc) is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1995 – 2002; Malba I studio, School of Prof. Jiří Sopko). In 2000, he completed a study internship at the Facultad de Bellas Artes Cuenca in Spain. In 2011, a residency at ISCP in New York and in 2016 a residency at AIR Antwerp in Belgium and at MeetFactory in Prague. He is a co-founder of the Prague number plate gallery (2011). Since 2017, he has been working as the head teacher of the Malba I studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU). Šalanda is a representative of a strong generation of authors that began to make a significant profile after 2000. His work is unique in many ways in the context of Czech painting. Šalanda does not allow himself to be limited by established principles and conventions, he understands painting freely, as a medium that he explores and analyzes. He uses the entire width of the painting spectrum, sensitively touches their boundaries and is often able to ironize things. By abstracting basic forms and using basic signs, he creates a distinctive and refined language with which he communicates with the viewer. In his works, he can combine the unexpected and works with the basic essence of painting. He sometimes uses text, and with its content he can materially support the final effect of his works.