Luboš Plný

Bio

The work of Luboš Plný (1961) arises on the border between systematic observation, personal archive and existential statement. He is one of the authors whose work cannot be easily classified – it is often associated with art brut, but at the same time it crosses the boundaries of this label towards conceptual art, performance and visual research. Plný entered the Czech art scene as a self-taught artist who, outside of traditional institutional structures, built his own, immediately recognizable language. His drawings, paintings, anatomical studies, textual records and extensive authorial systems are based on a long-term interest in the human body – not only as a biological organism, but as a space of memory, experience and identity. The body itself becomes the basic medium in his work. Repeated self-portraits, detailed anatomical sections and precise mapping of physiological processes create a unique visual archive in which medical precision meets personal experience. Painting and drawing do not function here only as a means of representation, but as a tool of analysis, evidence and self-examination. His work is characterized by an obsession with detail and a systematic approach that resembles the scientific method. At the same time, however, a strong emotional layer remains present - questions of pain, time, aging or the physical presence of a person. Plný's works thus oscillate between cold precision and a multilayered intimate statement. A significant moment in his international career was his participation in the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale 2017, where he became the only Czech artist included in the central curatorial exhibition. This participation confirmed the importance of the author, whose work has long resonated far beyond the borders of the domestic scene. Today, Luboš Plný's work represents one of the most authentic positions in contemporary art - work that does not stem from observing the world from a distance, but from the intense and continuous experience of one's own existence. Plný's works are represented in many foreign institutional and private collections.