Jiří Horák (*1940) is one of the most prominent Czech photographers of the 1960s through the 1980s, but despite countless awards, exhibitions, and magazine articles, his life’s work is known only in fragments. Horák established himself as early as the late 1960s as a member of the legendary Brno group Epos, formed by students of K. O. Hrubý and Antonín Hinšt (J. H., Rostislav Košťál, František Maršálek, and Petr Sikula) and which introduced a new approach to working with models into Czech photography, drawing on photojournalism but stylistically reflecting the onset of normalization. Horák’s masterpieces, primarily from the 1970s, combine psychological portraiture with the stark, urban backdrop of prefabricated apartment blocks and inhospitable open spaces.
Throughout the 1980s, Horák’s work evolved, on the one hand into captivating, romanticized portraits, and on the other into several long-term documentary series (Orava, Strážnice, Greyhound Races). Thanks to his sense of composition, atmosphere, and psychological insight, Horák’s photographs remain among the hidden treasures of Czech photography to this day.
The exhibition is being held to mark the publication of Horák’s monograph, prepared by the PositiF publishing house in collaboration with the Helbich Printing House.
The exhibition is curated by Pavel Vančát.
Robert Helbich will open the exhibition on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 6 p.m., in the presence of the artist and the curator.
The opening will include the launch of the author’s book of the same name and a screening of the documentary about the Brno photography group Epos—Epos 2.0, of which Jiří Horák was a member.
GUIDED TOUR AND CLOSING RECEPTION on November 6, 2025, at 6 p.m., in the presence of the curator and the author.
