About the project
CZEN
Artlist — Center for Contemporary Arts Prague

Tomáš Svoboda

First Name
Tomáš
Surname
Svoboda
Born
1974
Birth place
Plzeň
Place of work
Praha
Website
www.tomassvoboda.eu
i-datum
↳ Find in the VVP AVU database
Keywords
CSU Library
↳ Find in the catalogue

About artist

Visual artist Tomáš Svoboda graduated with a master’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (2003), where he first studied in the painting studio of Jiří Sopek and then with Vladimír Skrepl. Later he also completed his doctoral studies in the Sculpture Studio at the Prague Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (2016). Since 2015 he has been the head of the New Media Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In addition to his own art work, he also engages in the architecture and installation of exhibitions and is occasionally invited as a designer and architect to work on films and TV series (Toman, Rudý kapitán, Marta a Věra, Comeback, Helena and others).

In 2001, together with Zbyněk Baladrán, Ondřej Chrobák and David Kulhánek, he founded the Display gallery in Prague’s Holešovice, which moved and merged with the initiative called tranzit to form the tranzitdisplay contemporary art gallery in 2007. The gallery focused on the presentation of social and political implications in artistic practice, presented dozens of exhibitions with international participation, and operated until 2018, when this distinctive cultural institution again split into two separate parts.

Tomáš Svoboda’s work is based both on creating installations and on the performative recording of his own events. He mainly explores the individual intersections between text, sound and image, which he often combines in film. Film, which the author perceives as “the most influential artistic medium ever”, as it “has a real potential of influencing public opinion, people’s interests, their desires, etc.,”[1] typo3/plays a very significant role in Tomáš Svoboda’s work (25 slov za vteřinu, Žvýkačka, Configuration or Úhel pohledu). In 2017, the artist even presented a feature-length cinematic experiment called Jako z filmu that deals with the way of thinking about film, but also “thinking through film”. As part of the exhibition called Jako z filmu: Adaptace at the Dům umění in Brno (2018) the film was transformed into a gallery installation becoming the exhibtion’s pivotal work. 

The visuality of Tomáš Svoboda's works, however, does not directly depend on film; a strong moment in his work is the textual component, and the author often combines the work with architecture and film set-up. His work with text, however, does not have the ambition of a narrative: he uses text mainly as a chain of signs and rather a visual material (Imagine Photo, 2008; Home video, 2004). On many occasions he worked with subtle text defects – as for instance on a banner signed Svobobu! from 2014. The artist often comments on serious matters from a distance and with irony, his works incorporate humour and exaggeration. For example, in his 2008 work Den nezávislosti, he combined text/spoken word with film in a very unconventional way: the audience was invited to the cinema, where the artist personally recounted the plot of the film while the visitors didn’t see even a minute of the blockbuster. The audience still had the opportunity to picture the film – based on their individual experience and imagination. Imagine Psycho from 2008 employed a similar principle. The renowned movie Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock was adapted into simple sentences describing the film’s scenes. On the opposite side from this screening, a 3D backdrop from the film was built, leaving it up to the viewers to complete the empty space using their own imagination.

The above-mentioned examples of Tomáš Svoboda’s work illustrate that his projects are often conceptual, but the artist’s early works mostly fall within the realm of painting (for example the Parkoviště series in Mánes in 1998). Svoboda later found out that he was unable to express his own thoughts and opinions more concisely through painting, and so he gradually started working with objects and videos as well as through interventions in the public space. Around 2003, a strong textual component first appeared in his work, which he combined with various types of visual media and 3D objects, and he also began to employ spoken word (Vyprávění, 2005).[2]typo3/

Among his distinctive text-based outdoor installations is the 2006 work Na návštěvě, where he focused on the connection between text and space itself. In each room of a wooden structure that was replicating the author’s apartment, he hung a banner with an alphabetical list of all the objects found inside. He employed a similar principle also in his projects Garden House from 2006 and Minimal House from 2007. In them, the author examines the use of words and their transformation into a specific meaning that is different for each of us; he perceives words as abstracts and language as an imperfect means of communication, since the specific idea of a certain word is never the same for the recipients. This principle was also illustrated in his work Síla kontextu (displayed, among other venues, at the Moravian Gallery in Brno in 2011), which shows individual words set in various contemporary or historical frameworks, thus in different contexts, evoking the different perceptions and feelings that are associated therewith. Tomáš Svoboda also plays with the space and its interactions with painting (for example at an intergenerational exhibition in Futura Gallery together with Ivan Kafka in 2008 where he presented a work with the symptomatic title Zbytný prostor k dispozici pro vystavení práce Tomáše Svobody tak, aby při vstupu do výstavního sálu pohledově nerušil instalaci Ivana Kafky).[3]typo3/

Tomáš Svoboda’s thematic focus is not only on social issues, but also on the political situation and society as a whole. His work reflects on our “life” – the way we communicate, the way we perceive and act, our habits and customs – and his usage of text as a visual material reveals additional hidden images and expands the limits of our perception. Tomáš Svoboda’s projects often delve into the operations of systems that have been in place for years, unchanging but presented in an unexpected context of the rendered process, to some extent trying to draw the viewers’ attention and throw them off balance. The seemingly simple concept and the mostly very subtle intervention of the textual component are concentrated on the perception of language and thinking in a specific environment and situation. His work playfully combines architecture, film, text or sound to give rise to a work characterized by a powerful concept and distinctive visuality.


[1] Interview about the exhibition Filmů už se nebojím with Gábina Kotíková, www.galeriejeleni.cz/2013/tomas-svoboda-filmu-uz-se-nebojim/, accessed: 15 February 2021.

[2] Interview about the exhibition Filmů už se nebojím with Gábina Kotíková, www.galeriejeleni.cz/2013/tomas-svoboda-filmu-uz-se-nebojim/, accessed: 15 February 2021

[3] Reportage from the exhibition, artycok.tv/210/kafka-svoboda, accessed 10 February 2021.

Author of the annotation
Josefína Frýbová

Published
2021

Whether working with text of sound, he creates installations or documents e-mail correspondence. Tomáš Svoboda is monitoring a system. His approach to art follows from conceptually-focused semiotic research from the 1960s (Josef Kosuth, Art & Language). However, contrary to this tradition, which refers primarily to the convention of imaging itself, Svoboda’s approach expresses an interest in the possibilities of communication, (de)formed on the basis of a pre-established logic. He often researches non-narrative text and its ability to carry information (Černý‘s 428, Brno-Praha, Kaiserstrasse), or eventually relationships between text and image (London Photo Album), nor does he forget social topics, media analysis and diverse commercial information (Nabídka reklamních ploch k pronájmu v soukromém bytě – Offer of ad space for rent in a private flat, Srdečné blahopřání – Sincere Well Wishes, Prima vařečka – Wonderful Spoon, and Difference). Svoboda’s interest in the environment, where he’s living (Zrušená tiskárna / Defunct Printer) relates to this, as does his contact with city residents (City Last Aid, Post-It) and general questions on communication (Telefony / Telephones, You are not Alone).

Author of the annotation
Zuzana Štefková

Published
2006

CV

Studium:
2013–2016
Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová, Ateliér sochařství - Ph.D.

1996–2003
Akademie výtvarných umění- obor malířství - MgA.

Stáže:
2004 Berlin, Německo
2003–2004 Bern, Švýcarsko
2002 Brandenburg, Německo
1999 Staatliche Akademie der bildenden Künste, Karlsruhe

Ocenění:
2006 finalista Cena Jindřicha Chalupeckého

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
2020
Kino-pátek, Jako z Filmu, Plato, Ostrava

2018
Like in a Movie: Adaptation, Brno House of Arts, Brno

2017
Giotto, Fotograf Galllery, Prague
Best Friends, Prague's Crossings Festival, National Theatre, Prague

2016
Moving Image Department – 4th Chapter: The Rhetoric of Time, Revisited, National Gallery Prague
What should have a frame and what already has one, (with Zbynek Baladran), Entrance Gallery, Prague

2015
Here ends the film, Nevan Contempo, Prague
Myslet film / Thinking Film, Galerie Půda, Jihlava
Like a Movie, tranzitdisplay, Prague

2014
Tomas Svoboda, Luxfer Gallery, Ceska Skalice
Statement, Proluka Gallery, Prague
Ideas collector, with Adela Svobodova, Ferdinand Baumann Gallery, Prague

2013
Me, +-0 Gallery, Zilina (SK)
I'm not scared of movies any more, Jeleni Gallery, Prague

2012
First Person Singular, Laboratorio Gallery, Prague
One Second of the Julia Robert's Life, MEM / Fajt Gallery, Brno

2011
Ciprian Muresan a Tomáš Svoboda, Galerie Futura, Praha
25 slov za vteřinu, Galerie hl.města Prahy
Síla kontextu, Moravská galerie v Brně
The space for one art piece, Moravian Gallery, Brno
Netuším, že to takto skončí / I don't feel, it will end up like this, HIT galeria + amt_project, Bratislava

2010
Mrs. Roberts is Gonna Be Late, curated by VALIE EXPORT, Galerie Charim, Wien (AT) – with Daniel Pitin
Without Title, Galerie 207, VŠUP, Prague

2009
Exposition, Karlin Studios, Praha

2008
Ivan Kafka and Tomas Svoboda, Futura Gallery, Praha
Das Fenster zum Hof, Galerie Antje Wachs, Berlin (D)
The Roof, „36“ Gallery, Olomouc

2006
Déja vu, G99, Dům pánu z Kunštátu, Brno

2005
Srdečné blahopřání, Galerie ETC, Praha
Výstava, Galerie Doubner, Praha
Privat, am 180, Praha

2004
City tunes, Stadtgalerie Bern, Švýcarsko

2003
Létá jako Superman, Galerie 761, Ostrava
Metro, Telč

2001
No Exit, Galerie Černý pavouk, Ostrava
No Exit, Stuttgarter Kunstverein e. V. 22, Stuttgart, Německo
No Exit, Galerie NSCU, Galerie Jelení, Praha

2000
On the Road, Galerie Na bidýlku, Brno

1999
Totální Svoboda, www.auctionsart.cz

1998
Galerie Starter and Sorter, Praha

1997
Galerie U kamene, Cheb
Group exhibitions not included in ARTLIST.
2020
Vykladači světa, Villa Pellé, Prague
NEMAF, Seoul International ALT Cinema and Media Festival, South Corea
MFDF Ji.hlava, Jihlava

2019
Kuna nese nanuk, 8smicka, Humpolec

2018
Odcizení podle slovníku, Galerie Emila Filly, Ústí nad Labem

2017
Jak si rozumět / How to understand each other, Hranicar gallery, Usti nad Labem
Back then in Europe, Zapadoceska Galerie v Plzni, Pilsen
Conditions of impossibility III/VII, The Work of Indolence, Cursor Gallery, Prague

2016
Jiné vize CZ / Other visions CZ, Galerie AMU, Prague
Independent Research of Subjectivity, 4 Days in Motion Festival, Prague
Third Mind, Jiri Kovanda and the (Im)Possibility of Collaboration, National Gallery, Prague
Apparatus for a Utopian Image, EFA Project Space, New York (USA)
Notes on a European Language, State of Concept, Athens (GR)

2015
Video Cube, Banska Stanica Contemporary, Banska Stiavnica (SK)
Orient Express, as guest of Tereza Severova, SPZ Gallery, Prague
Goodbye Language, Atelier 35 Gallery, Bucharest (RO)
Fear. The Origin of the State, The New Kunsthalle, Synagogue Zilina (SK)
Teserakt, Galerie AMU, Prague

2014
Spaces of Narration, NoD Gallery, Prague
At eye level, sculpture salon, Plato Ostrava
LED TYPE, International theatre festival Nitra (SK)
HIN MAH TOO YAH LAT KEKT, Galerie AMU, Prague
Who is the director? 4+4 days in motion festival, Prague
SHOW ME (your Idols), Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin (DE)
Brno Devetsil, Multimedia Overlaps of the Artistic Avant-Garde, Moravian Gallery, Brno
Kdo na moje místo, Galerie Plato, Ostrava

2013
Problem is here, 4+4 days in motion festival, Prague
Beginning of the Century, Gallery of Fine Art, Ostrava
PAF Art, Festival of Film and Animation, Olomouc
Additional Links, Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin (D)
LED TYPE, Space gallery, Bratislava (SK)

2012
The Islands of Resistance, Between the First and Second Modernity 1985 —2012, National Gallery, Prague

2011
Erotic revue, GASK, Kutná Hora
Whose city is this? Karlin studios, Prague
Prague Biennale 5, Prague
New salon, Zlín
Intersection, Prague Quadrennial, Prague
Sommer auf dem Balkon, Galerie Antje Wachs, Berlin (D)
Les amis de mes amis sont mes amis, hommage à Ján Mančuška. Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris (F)
Additional links, NTK Gallery, Prague

2010
Economy of Unwanted Amity, Karlin studios, Prague
KGUVZ, Zlin
Demonstration of a Space, Street for Art Festival, PragueCity Periphery
One Day You Will Lose It All, Four Days in Motion Festival, Prague

2009
Monument to transformation, City Gallery Prague, Praha
The Prague Bienale IV., Praha
After Velvet, czech art of the last 20 years, City Gallery Prague, Praha

2008
Videoart.cz, Space Gallery, Bratislava (SK)
Contemporary czech cubism, City Gallery Prague, Praha
Zwischenstand, Wuertembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart (D)
InVisible, Festival of Photography, Olomouc
Cargo, Czech video festival, Budapest (HU), Bucharest (RO)
Manual, projekt, Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw (PL)
Na bidylku, Artists from the Na bidylku Gallery, Galerie Jeleni, Praha
Reflecting words, The Museum of Czech Literature, Praha
10 +10, Galerie U Bílého jednorožce, Klatovy
Jeder Mensch ist ein Künstler, Spor Klübü Galerie, Berlin (D)

2007
Ladvi – sidliste Dablice, guest od the Ladvi group show, Galerie AVU, Praha
Territorien, Galerie der Künstler, München, (D)
Gross domestic product, City Gallery Prague, Praha
It stays between us, Karlin studios, Praha
Beauty Farm, Neue Kunst im Hagenbucher, Heilbronn (D)
The Collective Body, Califia Gallery, Horazdovice
Gross domestic product, M’ars Gallery, Moscow (RU)

2006
Indikace, 4+4+4 dny v pohybu, Praha
Odlet, Low-cost Generation, Česká centra, Praha
Věcné stavy, Karlín studios, Praha
Office art, Galerie c2c, Praha
In the neigbourhood, De Veemvloer, Amsterdam, Holandsko

2005
1811197604122005, Galeria Plan B, Kluj, Rumunsko
Inscape, Galerie kritiků, Praha

2004
Sputniza, Kunsthaus Dresden, Dresden, Německo
Space Kemp, Kolowratský palác, Praha
Breakthrough, Den Haag, Holandsko
Art Cubicle, Mnichov, Německo

2003
Paradies, Bunker am Alexanderplatz, Berlín, Německo
Kompression, Berlín, Německo
Art Cubicle, Galerie und Projekte Raum, Berlín, Německo
Art Cubicle, Galerie Home, Praha
Zlínský salón mladých, Městská galerie Zlín
Svět jako struktura, struktura jako obraz, Galerie Klenová, Klatovy

2002
Ar(t)chitektura, Galerie Jaroslava Frágnera, Praha
Česká sezóna, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Francie
Wechselstube, Galerie Oberwelt, Stuttgart, Německo
Jo-Jo efekt, Alšova jihočeská galerie, České Budějovice
Bienále mladých, Galerie hl. m. Prahy, Praha

2001
Criss/Cross, Galeria Piwnica, Wroclaw, Polsko
Criss/Cross, Centrum Broumov
Grrr-Žbuch, festival komiksu, Bratislava
Grrr-Žbuch, festival komiksu, Galerie NSCU, Praha

2000
AVU v Limě, Lima (Peru)
Zdroje nového stylu, Jízdárna Pražského hradu, Praha
Inner City Pressure, NoD Gallery, Praha
AVU 1998-2000, Galerie Mánes, Praha
Současná minulost, Alšova jihočeská galerie, Hluboká nad Vltavou

1999
Stipendiaten, Stuttgart, Německo
Vidiny, Galerie NoD, Praha
Šest, Galerie U kamene, Cheb
Kunstakademie aus Prag, Galerie M, Berlin, Německo
Close Encounters, Naarden, Holandsko
Cargo, Dresden , Německo
Metro, Galerie černý pavouk, Ostrava

1998
Letní škola architektury, Praha
Dole v Bunkru, Praha

1997
Forum 2000, Divadlo Archa, Praha
AVU v Mánesu, Praha

Monography

Articles

Sylva Poláková: Odkud až kam sahá filmový experiment?, Film a doba, 1/2019

Matěj Forejt: Jako z filmu, ale ne jako z kina, (recenze), 11. 4. 2018, online:  Artalk.cz

Sylva Poláková: Jako z filmu je i o životě, (rozhovor), A2, 10/2017

Sylva Poláková: Film o životě / Jako z filmu, (recenze), Cinepur 111/2017

Mariendbad Film Festival, programový katalog, 2017

Anežka Bartlová: Výzvy a rámce, (recenze), 13. 1. 2017, online: Artalk.cz

Antonín Tesař: Jako z filmu, (recenze), A2, 8/2017

Febiofest, programový katalog, 2017

Jiří Ptáček, Tomáš Svoboda, Gioto, 2017 online: Fotogrfa Gallery

Tereza Rudolf Hrušková: Pročíst se za film, recenze, 27. 1. 2016, online: Artalk.cz,

Sylva Poláková: Tomáš Svoboda / Jako film, (profil), Cinepur 103/2016

Johanka Lomová: Jako ve filmu, (rozhovor) Art and Antiques, červenec 2016

Sylva Poláková: Film v každodennosti, (recenze,) Art and Antiques, únor 2016

Ivana Pechová, Neddělitel'né substancie Julie Roberts, recenze, 28. 11. 2012, online: Artalk.cz,

Gábina Kotíková, Tomáš Svoboda: Filmů už se nebojím, rozhovor, 2013 online: Galerie Jelení

Fotograf časopis, Dekonstrukce a (re)imaginace, profil, číslo 19, 2012

Lenka Střeláková: Ztraceno v kontextu / Kde je film, (profil), Cinepur 78/2011

Současná minulost, česká postmoderní moderna, katalog výstavy, AJG Hluboká n. Vltavou, 2000

Lenka Lindaurová, Nové tváře, (profil) Umělec, 5-6/1999

Video

Photo

Center for Contemporary Arts Prague www.fcca.cz 2006–2024
Report a problem