TONO STANO AT MESTSKA KNIHOVNA: WHERE SHADOWS, SHAPES, AND STORIES MEET

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If you find yourself wandering Prague's historic streets and craving a date with contemporary photography, make your way to Městská Knihovna (Municipal Library) for Tono Stano’s show. This one is worth the stop — and I mean it.

The show takes you through Tono Stano’s photographic journey, including a few early pieces from his school days. Even back then, you can see how cinematic his way of seeing and capturing the world was.

Walking into the first part of the exhibition feels like stepping into a quiet world made of striking black and white shapes. Stano’s early photographs play with the human body like a sculptor plays with clay: stretching, twisting, hiding. The way he posed his models felt both beautiful and a little unsettling at times, especially when faces were hidden or obscured. Some images had a hint of menace to them, but it made the beauty stand out even more. I found myself slowing down to really look at how each photo was built. They felt almost like little silent performances captured on paper.

Moving into the next section, Stano switches gears. Here, he places simple geometric forms out in nature (sadly, I did not snap a picture there). It’s an interesting contrast — the wildness of the outdoors meeting the clean lines of man-made shapes.

There is also a section of the show called “White Shadow” where the artist plays with printed negatives of his work. I didn’t love the “White Shadow” as much (it felt a bit heavier and less connected to the rest of the show), but the idea still made me think.

For those who know me already will have guessed that one of my favorite parts was seeing the portraits Tono Stano created for the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Those portraits capture a kind of effortless cool that makes you want to know the story behind every face. And the famous faces clearly play along with the story that the photographer dreamt up for the shoot! Apart from the photographs themselves, I loved finding out that he’s not just the man behind the camera. He also designed the Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe back in 2001!

I enjoyed reading about his magazine collaboration with Aleš Najbrt, too. Such a cool example of two creative minds coming together to build something iconic.

The whole show is beautifully put together by curators Magdalena Juříková and Helena Musilová, and you can really feel Stano’s hand in it too. The design of the show itself is not too shabby, either, thanks to Aleš Najbrt and his team.

The Městská Knihovna gallery itself is worth mentioning, too. Tucked away on the upper floors of a beautiful neoclassical building just steps from the Old Town Square, it’s one of those Prague secrets that still feels a little undiscovered. Plus, the light streaming through the skylights makes the art feel even more alive.

If you’re in Prague soon, put this show on your list. It’s the kind of exhibition that doesn’t just stay in the gallery. It lingers in your mind long after you’ve stepped back out into the city streets.

Where:
Městská knihovna Gallery, 2nd Floor, Mariánské náměstí 1, Prague 1
When:
Check current opening hours at ghmp.cz

FROM LINES TO MATTER, AKA GENTLE GIANTS AT THE KAMPA MUSEUM

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Late summers bring me back to Prague and invite exploration of the local cultural offerings. Today, on my stroll through town, I came across a good one: Vojtech Kovarik’s “From Lines to Matter” show at the Kampa museum.

The show, a collection of monumental paintings centers on ancient myths, gods and goddesses that this young artist shows breaking out of their sizable frames and filling the room with their commanding, colorful presence. The ancient myths re-awaken your interest in antique mythology and the artist helps you by providing an ever so brief glimpse of the story you’re seeing on the canvas. The bright, saturated colors pull you in and you find yourself mesmerized, standing in front of these gentle giants enjoying every moment in their company.

The artist studied drawing and painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Ostrava and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw He won the Critics Prize for Young Painters in 2019 and has been exhibiting extensively abroad since then, building a presence in the international arts market.

The show runs at the Museum Kampa through early September, so if you are in Prague and looking for a late-summer cultural interlude, stop by. I truly enjoyed it.