MICHAL KALHOUS

exhibition: 16 September – 31 October 2026

A dumpling, a stem, a tablecloth. A scorched rectangle on the lawn, an empty paper tray, or a sausage on a string. Large gray enlargements and humor as dry as an August meadow. Michal Kalhous speaks his own language—both visually and conceptually. By capturing his immediate surroundings and the most mundane motifs with trademark exaggeration, he tells life stories both big and small. His exclusively black-and-white analog series are intentionally technologically unrefined, instilling uncertainty as well as a visual calmness that grows even more valuable in an era marked by an overwhelming overload of information. His work is primarily associated with the specific concept of “Czech non-photography.” Alongside the artist duo Lukáš Jasanský – Martin Polák and Alena Kotzmannová, Michal Kalhous is among the most prominent Czech representatives of this movement.
Michal Kalhous (b. 1967) currently serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Ostrava. He graduated from the Faculty of Science at Palacký University Olomouc and completed his doctoral studies in Visual Communication at the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. He has exhibited in prestigious Czech galleries such as PLATO Ostrava or Fait Gallery in Brno, as well as abroad, including at the London College in England.