Vernissage: Vojtěch Vlk – Masked Musicians

The latest exhibition by photographer Vojtěch Vlk thematises the phenomenon of the mask in contemporary music. The collection of large-format black-and-white and colour photographs maps solo performers, as well as groups (mostly from the Czech scene) who have chosen to partially or completely cover their faces when performing.
For example, musician and versatile artist Jakub König aka Kittchen hid behind a black mask made of a chef’s hat. His temporary adoption of the identity of a masked chef allows him to glimpse Jakub’s identity as if from the outside. The two identities interact, transform and seek a mutual balance. In the photographs on display, we can also find, for example, Jana Uriel Kratochvílová, Dymytry, Dr. Caligari’s Cabaret, or Mexican Austin TV.

Vojtěch Vlk is a graduate of the Academy of Arts and Crafts in Prague, where he studied photography. Currently he focuses mainly on portrait photography. He has been a photographer since his childhood, which he spent in Moravské Budějovice. He is most fascinated by the diversity and endless possibilities of creativity that photography as a medium offers.

“I started photographing masks many years ago in Moravia, where I come from. I have a vivid memory of all the children’s carnivals that I experienced in a mask. I then used my camera to document the carnival revelry in the surrounding villages,” explains the photographer where his passion for masks was born. “I’ve always been fascinated by everything hidden and mysterious, so I guess that’s why masks, transformations and identity have become the main theme of my free work.”

The opening of the exhibition will take place on 7 May at 18:00.In addition to an introduction by the artist, you can also look forward to a performance by the artist Kittchen, who is also one of those who were captured in the photographs.

Vojtěch Vlk (1973) is a graduate of the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design and Crafts in Prague, where he studied photography under Prof. Pavel Štecha. Currently, he focuses mainly on portrait and corporate photography. In 2016, in collaboration with Kant Publishing House, he published the book TranSpiRituals, which consists of black and white documentary and portrait photographs mapping spirituality and rituals across world religions.