Veronika Drahotova is a Czech artist and curator known for mixed-media work incorporating painting, photography, video and installation.
Born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1992 she became one of the youngest students ever to matriculate at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague (AVU), studying under J. David and J. Sopko, receiving a one-year scholarship (1995) at the San Francisco Art Institute, and a Masters of Art degree in 2000.
She made her first big splash in the art world in 1998 with "Castle in the Sky," a large-scale light installation funded by the Soros Foundation. In it, the famous Prague Castle was completely illuminated in a rainbow glow for several nights, and it’s still considered one of the largest public art displays to take place in the Czech Republic.
The rainbow symbolism from Castle show was quickly incorporated into an ever-growing iconographic vocabulary developed by Drahotova. This highly visualized language of symbols appears persistently throughout her work across all mediums, encouraging a sense of interconnectedness within and between each. The evolution of that iconography can clearly be seen in her early portrait work, which includes the postmodern series “Bad Boys” (1997-2004), and plays out prominently in her constructed objects and installations, such as FF (for S. H.; 2004) and POP (Preliminary Orientation in the Problem; 1999).
Her focus of late has mostly been on painting, specifically large-scale canvases filled with geometric objects that merge with and collide into 3-D relief elements, an implicit commentary on the tension between philosophy and psychology. In this way, the canvases of the recent series “They Don’t Know They Are Doing It” (2010) can be arranged together on the wall in various interchangeable configurations, like interactive panels in a constantly shifting landscape that is as much spiritual as it is mathematical.
In 2002 Drahotova founded HOME Gallery in Prague, and as director curated more than a dozen exhibitions over two years featuring artists from all over Europe. She has had more than ten solo shows in the U.S., Japan, and across Europe, and participated in dozens of group shows.
Solo Shows
2011: THEY_I (with Nikola Semotanova), Trafacka Gallery, Prague, CZ
2009: MEMPLEX CITY, Icon Gallery,Prague, CZ
2008: MEMPLEX RIP, Blansko Gallery, CZ
2005: AUTOREVERSE, The Art Critics Gallery, Prague , CZ
2004: PRELIMINARY ORIENTATION, Chromosome gallery, Berlin , D
2004: ALI-EN-ACE, Futura gallery, Prague, CZ
2002: Latest Art, Vernon Fine Art, Prague, CZ
2001: GRAVE, Remont Gallery. Belgrade, YU
2001: Mind the Heart, Behemot Gallery, Prague, CZ
2001: The Sky Is Empty, U černého pavouka Gallery, Ostrava, CZ
1999: Pratele navzdy (Friends Forever), Pecka Gallery, Prague, CZ 1998 - See Through, the Czech Center, Brussels, Belgium
1996: Fiona Whitney Gallery, Wilcox L.A., USA
Group Shows
2011: Unknown Area, Gallery Graz, D
2009: Girls Against Boys,Szara Gallery, PL
2008: Sexismus, Vaclav Spala gallery, Prague, CZ
2008:Spleen & Ideal, Karlín studios, Prague, CZ
2007: Vitamin P, Bastart Gallery, Bratislava, Košice, SK
2007: Spleen & Ideal, Brno Gallery, CZ
2006: SAFE, Karlin Studios, Pague, CZ
2006: Runaway, Space Gallery, Bratislava, SK
2006: Sigmund Freud - Life is but a Dream, Oldtown Gallery , Prague, CZ
2006: Czech Point, NOG, www.nogallery.info
2006: Videobus, Prague - Brno, CZ
2006: MULTIPLACE, Bratislava, SK
2006: Stop domestic violence, Praha, CZ
2005: Beauty Free Shop, Praha, CZ
2005: LEBKA, Galerie AVU, Praha, CZ
2005: MULTIPLACE, Bratislava, SK
2004 Pure Beauty, Critics Gallery, Prague, CZ
2004: VISION, Toki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2004: Eastern Alience, TOE, Berlin, D
2004: Within Reach, HOME Gallery, CZ
2003: TAIL, Twig Gallery,NYC, USA
2003: Pretty Comunication, PRIESTOR gallery, Bratislava, SK
2003: INOUT, Budapest, Hungary
2003: INOUT, Prague, CZ
2003: ELEKTROBOT, Prague, CZ
2002: In Between, České Centrum, NYC, USA
2002: FOTOK, Meo, Budepest,H
2001:To Flow To, Chromosome Gallery, Berlin, D
2001: Artists for Umelec, Tvrdohlaví Gallery, Prague, CZ
2001: Feme Fatal, Kutná Hora, CZ
2000: Bohemian Birds, Kunst Haus, Drezden, D,
2000: Story, NoD Gallery, Prague
2000: Training, Bratislava - Kosice, SK
2000: Sources of New Style, Prague, CZ 2000 - The Southern Affair, Ceske Budejovice, CZ
2000: ARTESCO, Polyphonic arts in Prague, CZ
2000: Open Air, Exodus, Prague, CZ 2000 - . (three dots), the NoD Gallery, Prague, CZ
1999: No Sex Until Marriage, Prague, CZ
1999: Open Gallery, Prague, CZ
1998: Zelená (Green), the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) gallery, Prague, CZ
1998: Umelecke dilo ve verejnem prostoru (Art in Public Space), implementation of projects (see below), Prague, CZ
1997: Umelecke dilo ve verejnem prostoru (Art in Public Space), exhibition concepts in the Veletrzni Palace (Modern and Contemporary Art Collection of the Czech National Gallery), Prague, CZ
1995: In and Out, San Francisco, USA
1994: Obrazy (Paintings), Prsten Gallery, Prague, CZ
Participation
2002 - Art Frankfurt, Chromosome Gallery, D
Studies
2000: received Master of Art degree
1997 - 2000: Visual Communications Studio, lecturer J. David, (AVU), Prague, CZ
1996: passed the BA exams at AVU, Prague, CZ
1995: one-semester scholarship at the San Francisco Art Institute, USA
1993 - 96: Classical Painting Techniques Studio, Professor Beran (AVU), Prague, CZ
1992 - 93: Painting I Studio, Professor J. Sopko (AVU), Prague, CZ
1991 - 92: Vaclav Hollar High School of Applied Arts, Prague, CZ
1990 - 91: High School of Applied Arts and Technology, Prague, CZ
Work
2002 - 2004: Director of HOME Gallery, Prague, CZ