Nikola Čulík graduated from the Studio of Drawing (class of Jitka Svobodova) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 2011. He captured attention with his thesis work – a site-specific installation at the Academy of Fine Art’s Graduates exhibition in 2011 at the Karlín Hall, where he presented his drawings enclosed in an exhibition booth. By doing so he emphasized their intimate character and expression originality. Čulík’s dominant media of expression is drawing, bearing the elements of journal keeping. He gets his inspiration primarily from authentic events. The work of Nikola Čulík is characteristic not only by his captivation in drawing but also by his expansion to other media – installations, painting, performances, poetry and also curatorship. He also applies a certain dose of curiousness at the viewers in the form of creative experiments and performances. His drawings are identifiable with their intimate character, as well as with their conceptual overlap. His emotionally powerful drawings are done in classical way using a pencil and paper, and they are often complemented by accompanying drawings and texts on walls.
There are two lines perceptible in Nikola Čulík’s drawing expression. In the first line, Čulík’s drawing is characteristic in making endless small format series’ where he projects his imagination and reflects daily events. In the second line, he is aware of a technical perfection of his drawings and he makes regular studies of reality. The blending of life and creative work holds an irreplaceable place in Čulík’s work. However, his inspiration also comes from social-political events, which he projects into his personal stories.
In the media of drawing Nikola Čulík stands out with his distinctive approach, where his autobiographic observations blend in with commentaries about current art scene, especially in the process of putting together his exhibitions, which are often based on experiment, authenticity and spontaneous expression. Čulík’s work crosses the boundaries of drawing into a post-conceptual level of current visual trends.
In Prague he has exhibited, for example, within the cycle Start Up in the City Gallery Prague (2009), in Gallery 35m2 (2011), in Gallery Klamovka (2012), on the 2nd floor of the Old Town City Hall, City Gallery Prague (2013) and in Gallery Kostka (2014). Presenting himself at exhibitions is a key aspect for Nikola Čulík’s work. Each exhibition concludes his individual creative periods and most of his exhibitions are created directly for the given galleries, where the artist proposes the style of promotion and the design of the exhibition. For example, the exhibition Black Soul was presented in the Gallery Altán Klamovka in the spring of 2012. Nikola Čulík presented a site-specific project here, where he imaginarily opened up some sort of open laboratory of creative experiment. He examined the media of drawing through the form of direct interaction with the gallery’s visitors. The viewer had the opportunity to view a cycle of 300 drawings with the participation of the artist. It was precisely this form of mini-exhibitions where the artist was either in his home environment, or in coffee shops or galleries, that satisfied Nikola Čulík to the extent that he was inspired to create further drawings. He had a similar exhibition entitled Člověčina (Human Matter) in Gallery 35m2 in 2011. The idea to start up a residential gallery Blahobyt (Prosperity) (www.actiongalleries.info/detail_galerie.php?l=cz&id=42) originated out of the enthusiasm that came out of the audience’s feedback. This treated the issue of presenting art in an enclosed environment. Nikola Čulík ran Gallery Blahobyt in his own flat in Prague’s neighbourhood Barrandov during 2011-2012. His focus was on young artists, on the media of drawing and part of the private openings were often performances.
His exhibition Life and Work took place at the beginning of 2012 on the 2nd floor of the Old Town City Hall and presented Čulík’s deviation from drawing to intermedia art. Nikola Čulík expanded into the space available there and created a multilayered unit, which recapitulated his existing work on the background of a picture romance. He presented his drawings like some type of Art therapy. He developed his working with space using participation in art in the Kostka Gallery in his exhibition project Tailor Made Exhibition (2014). He perceived a point, a line and their interconnection with an arrow as the ideal form for expressing the most internal human emotions. At the Tailor Made Exhibition Nikola Čulík was the content, he left the form, however, to selected implementers, with which he opened the game for the role and influence of an artist, curator and exhibition implementer.
2007-2011 Pedagogical minimum, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (M. Pastor, J. Vančát)
2010 Facultad de Bellas Artes, Cuenca - week internship
2005-2011 AVU, Prague (studios J. Svobodové drawings, conceptual art and experimental M. Šejna graphics V. Kokolia)
2002-2005 Faculty of Architecture, ČVUT Prague
1998-2002 Christian Doppler Grammar School, Prague
Realizations:
2014
Kam jdou lidé s nemocnou duší, sborník (M. Kašpar a T. Vaněk) (ilustrace)
Barva z kosmu” a Věc na prahu” (H. P. Lovecraft), Audioberg (ilustrace)
2013
Adéla a Nikola: Vlastně to měla bejt společná knížka o krajině, Ausdruck Books (společně s A. Součkovou)
2012
Kulturní noviny 2012/9 (ilustrace)
Gutta schreibt (D. Funda), Audioberg (ilustrace)
2011
Metodický portál RVP (dva odborné články)
The Adventures of Spaceman Sam and Robot Rob (C. Birch) (ilustrace)
Osiřelý západ (M. McDonagh), Galerie Off Formát (ilustrace)
Ježíš na Šumavě (R. Michel), Malvern (ilustrace)
2009
Webová prezentace pro Adélu
Miminka (minivydání textů doplňujících výstavu)
2008
Tvar 2008/20 (ilustrace)
Orangutan v továrně (L.Kasal), Dybbuk, (ilustrace)
2007
Webová prezentace ateliéru kresby AVU
Indicie (O. Macura), Klub přátel Tvaru, (ilustrace)
2006
Webová prezentace pro Miladu
Tvar 2006/15, 16 (ilustrace)
A2 2006/10 (ilustrace)
Oblaka Dabra (M. Šindelář) (ilustrace)
2005
Tvar 2005/13 (ilustrace)
Vyšehrátky 2005” (návrh kostýmu Kroka)
Tamerlán musí zemřít (Louise Welshová), Argo (ilustrace)
Kytice (K. J. Erben) (ilustrace)
2004
Josífek (V. Šmíd) (ilustrace)
2002
Z kapsáře, sbírka básní autorů internetového časopisu Totem (ilustrace)
2000
Patron 2000/16, 17, 18 (ilustrace)
Curatorial projects:
2014
Galerie Altán Klamovka, spolupráce na realizaci cyklu výstav (společně s L. Sýkorovou)
Galerie Na hajzlu, založení a správa galerijního prostoru v panelákovém dvoubytě, BLAHOBYT, Praha
2012
Kurace, výstava současné české kresby, (A)VOID Floating, Praha (společně s L. Sýkorovou)
2011–2012
BLAHOBYT, založení a správa bytová galerie v panelákovém dvoubytě, Praha
Pedagogical practice:
2014
Kresbu či lež?, dvoudenní worshop pro studenty FUD UJEP, Galerie Emila Filly, Ústí nad Labem
2013
Impulzy, tvorba, prezentace, jednodenní seminář v rámci výstavy prací pedagogů základních uměleckých škol, Litoměřice (společně s M. Pastorovou, J. Svobodou, Z. Syneckou a J. Vančátem)
Z druhé strany, jednodenní seminář, Pražská vysoká škola psychosociální studií (společně s K. Koťovou)
2012–2015
Arts Managment, akreditovaný modul dvoudenních výtvarných seminářů, Západočeská univerzita, Plzeň (společně s M. Pastorovou)
2012
Alternativní galerijní scéna (přednáška), Litoměřice; společně s L. Sýkorovou a R. Veselou
2011–2012
SPŠ sdělovací techniky Panská, Praha (učitel předmětů Výtvarná praxe a Dějiny umění a filmu)
AvvY, ateliér J. Jandy, Praha (lektor kurzů Klasická kresba a Základy kresby a malby)
Interviews, reviews (selection):
2014
Výstava na klíč (TV13)
Výstava na klíč (Artyčok.tv)
Nulla dies sine linea (www.youtube.com)
I úspěšný umělec má problémy vydělat na jídlo,” říká výtvarník Nikola Čulík (Čro 3 - Vltava)"
2013
Zhoubně pravdivý Nikola Čulík (Kulturissimo.cz)
Výstava GHMP: Nikola Čulík: Život a dílo ve Staroměstké radnici (Čro 3 - Vltava
Výpověď až na dřeň. Čulík proměnil výstavu v deník, rozestlal na ní i svou postel (Art.ihned.cz)
Podobnost kresby s šachovou hrou (Artalk.cz)
Nikola Čulík: Některé kresby mě skoro stály život (Esprit, 2013/1-2)
Kresby jsou pro mě arteterapie (Novinky.cz)
2012
Rvačky o čipsy a sporáky, Kulturní noviny 4/2012
Nikola Čulík (Art+Antique, 2012/3)
MeetFactory s novou kurátorkou vystavuje pražské kresby Nausiky z Holandska (art.ihned.cz,, 13. 3. 2012)
2011
Nikola Čulík - Nevědomá kořist (ČRo 3 - Vltava)
Diplomanti AVU (Ateliér, r. 24, č. 14 - 15)
2009
Trojitá deprese... (A tempo revue)
Nikola Čulík: Moje tvorba je provázaná s mojí duší (Nomen Omen)
Nikola Čulík: Intimní požár (ČRo 3 - Vltava)
Nikola Čulík, Intimní požár (A2, 2009/20)
MIMINKA (Artyčok.tv)
KULTURA: Nikola Čulík - Miminka (Neviditelný pes)
Intimní požár v Domě U Zlatého prstenu (ČRo Radio Wave)
Intimní požár Nikoly Čulíka (NEKULTURA.CZ)
INTIMNÍ POŽÁR (Artyčok.tv)
Sýkorová, Lenka: Podobnost kresby s šachovou hrou, Artalk, 25. 2. 2013,
www.artalk.cz/2013/02/25/podobnost-kresby-s-sachovou-hrou/
Wohlmuth, Radek: Nikola Čulík, Art+Antiques, 3/2012, rubrika Portfolio
Reportáže:
Nulla Dies Sine Linea: Postkonceptulní přesahy v české kresbě, GEF, Ústí nad Labem, 2014
http://artycok.tv/lang/cs-cz/25154/nulla-dies-sine-linea
1+(1+1)+1, MeetFactory, Praha, 2012
http://artycok.tv/lang/cs-cz/13969/1111
Intimní požár, Dům U Zlatého prstenu, GHMP, Praha, 2009
http://artycok.tv/lang/cs-cz/3409/intimate-fire
Maminka, Galerie Pavilon, Praha, 2009