Brno painter and illustrator Pavel Čech (born 5 November 1968 in Brno) is one of the most unique Czech artists today. Perhaps there is no need to introduce his extensive work, because many know it or have encountered it through their children. Pavel Čech is primarily a popular author of beautifully illustrated and readable books for children and adults, which he not only illustrates but also writes himself. His books full of fantasy, adventure, mysterious alleys, abandoned lands and overgrown gardens won numerous awards and were also published abroad. In his free work, he mainly does oil painting, creates three-dimensional objects, and also creates comics, book covers, posters, and advertising graphics. In all his works, he is undoubtedly able to properly utilize his artistic versatility and the romantic soul of a little boy who fulfills his childhood dreams and is able to draw the viewer and the reader into the fragile world of personal experiences, dreams and memories of childhood.

As Pavel Čech's work was recently (11/11/2022 – 2/5/2023) also presented here in Jihlava, we were interested in how the preparations for the exhibition will be handled by colleagues in Polička. So we took advantage of the vacation time and went to a city with a rich history, surrounded by original walls, as part of professional education with colleagues. Here, we received not only a very friendly welcome, but also an insightful explanation with a look behind the scenes of the creation of this exhibition from the lovely lady guide. Similar to here at the OGV, part of the exhibition is dedicated to the presentation of the author's free work to date. Some of the works were familiar to us, of course there was the large "Mapa Stínadel" from 2002, and some, on the contrary, broadened our awareness of Čech's latest work.

We learned that in the Polička museum, especially during the summer exhibitions, they focus primarily on small visitors, for whom they prepare exhibitions with a number of various activities and games or creative corners that will entertain, amuse and educate. At the Pavel Čech exhibition, the gallery staff, led by the director, created a mysterious treasure hunt full of tasks that will allow children and adults to enter his engaging stories and get to know their heroes, giving visitors space to exercise and develop their imagination and creativity, and also test their courage. For example, there is an Indian village with a characteristic tipi, where you can read, draw or just dream, you can also assemble boats, create your own Čenda the spider, build cities, become an inventor, detective, car racer or lie down and watch the clouds in the sky... In short, to discover the endless world of Pavel Čech's fantasy.

You can visit the exhibition in the exhibition halls of the City Gallery until August 27 in the baroque town hall in the town square, but you have to buy tickets in the nearby museum building....

You can read about how the educational workshops for schools in our gallery took place for the Pavel Čech exhibition in Veronika Dolanská's post from January 2022.

Jana Bojanovská, August 2023