The exhibition Everyday Celebrations presents Antonín Střížek as an attentive observer of scenes that are often utterly ordinary, yet at the same time possess a poetry of their own. Known for his idyllic landscapes and urban still lifes, the painter and photographer creates images imbued with a subtle sense of reverie and nostalgia. This almost theatrical quality also emerges, with a touch of magic, in his latest series of Bauhaus paintings, which develops his earlier explorations of geometric forms. This time, however, he introduces a narrative element. The series was inspired by the Triadic Ballet, the celebrated avant-garde dance work created in 1916 by German artist, choreographer and Bauhaus figure Oskar Schlemmer.

Antonín Střížek was born in Rumburk and spent his childhood in Ostrava-Poruba. He studied at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Prague and, from 1983 to 1988, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he later headed Painting Studio III for five years. Today, he lives and works in Prague and Milovice. Over the course of his career, he has held dozens of solo exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad, and his work is represented in the collection of the National Gallery Prague as well as in other major international collections.

Střížek also draws inspiration from the countries he has visited, including China, Mexico and Japan. These experiences are reflected in his choice of colour and materials. He works primarily in oil on canvas, but watercolour also occupies an important place in his practice, alongside a longstanding affinity for painting on paper.

Air holds a distinctive place in Střížek’s paintings: something entirely natural and invisible, something we tend to notice most acutely only when it is in short supply. Yet in his work, air is more than simply part of the composition. It becomes almost tangible, whether in his depictions of shop windows filled with clothes or interiors furnished with chairs. Among his most remarkable commissions is the stage curtain he created for the Prague State Opera in 2002. Its imagery draws on a scene from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final opera, The Magic Flute, for a new production of which the curtain was originally commissioned. The work is now held in the collection of the National Museum in Prague.

Across 250 square metres of exhibition space, Everyday Celebrations brings together dozens of Střížek’s oil paintings alongside watercolours and photographs. The exhibition also includes a film directed by his daughter, artist Johana Střížková, in which Střížek responds to questions posed by art historian and curator Karel Srp.

Galerie Marienbad is open daily from 2 pm to 5 pm and is located on the first floor of the historic colonnade in Mariánské Lázně.