Breakdown | Tomáš Smíšek

5 July - 31 August 2025
Foyer Bio Central

The exhibition Breakdown in the Foyer of the Bio Central cinema presents a series of original prints from the first half of 2025, created specifically for this particular exhibition. Tomáš Smíšek's work has long been devoted to the phenomenon of writing and written signs, which fascinate him. He draws on his experience in graphic design and uses graphic methods to create systematic, typographic compositions, most often in medium to large formats. Due to their structural nature, the author's prints range in both abstract and concrete planes. The rational and mathematical approach is a form of meditation for the artist and in the current chaos of the world, it defines a space into which he brings order in a visual form. The word breakdown, translated as collapse, failure or disintegration, is used in this case as a contrast in the form of a subliminal message that is not compatible with a system of creation that, on the contrary, adheres firmly to certain principles. The aim of the exhibition is therefore to bring visitors closer to the forms in which one can work with writing in an author's work. Since, apart from its usual communicative purpose, the written character offers extremely interesting visual perceptions that we are not able to perceive sufficiently in its traditional use, although we encounter them every day. The individual characters overlap each other in the compositions and each letter creates a completely original grid, inspired by the virtual environment, with the difference that everything is created by hand without the use of digital technologies. In a world in which ever-increasing digitalisation and virtual identity is an indispensable part of our lives, the artist believes it is important to remind ourselves of the value of real things and skills we often forget.