Pavel Šmíd

Pavel Šmíd, born 1964 in Krnov, studied from 1979 to 1982 at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Prague. In 1986, he worked in the Budoucnost department store in Havířov. He was interested in the unorthodox concept of fine art in Ostrava, where he met some of the future members and people related to the group Přirození (e.g. Jiří Surůvka, Rostislav Němčík, Hana Puchová, Jan Balabán, etc.). In their apartment in Ostrava, he and his wife Helena, also member of the group, organized informal exhibitions. His work in this period is characterized by woodcuts and engravings with themes from the Epic of Gilgamesh, legends about Indians, and the like. These are dark and anxious visions, enhanced by an expressive gesture. In the years 1990–1997, he lived in Prague, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the studio of Professor Jiří Sopko. In 1992 he was on a study stay at the Polytechnic School in Nottingham, Great Britain. After his studies, he stayed in Prague.

During his time in Ostrava, he was a founding member of the art group Přírození, whose members were visual artists and writers. During his studies in Prague, he focused mainly on painting, which is still his primary means of expression. In his works, he thematizes the fleeting moments of life, history, the trauma of collective memory, family and personal history. In recent years, the expressive color has been transformed into pastiness and a strong painterly gesture.

The first part of the text is based on the author's medallion in the publication Přirození.