An exhibition in Prague shows new tendencies in creative art

A new exhibition opened at the Czech Centre of the Pen Club in Prague, called Photo-Graphics 2001. As its title indicates, the exhibited works by Jan Trojak combine photography and graphic art. The highly coloured prints created with the help of computer technology defy traditional ideas about what constitutes art. But even the most sophisticated electronic technology means nothing unless the artist is able to stop in dismay in front of an ordinary thing, find poetry in it and translate this feeling to other people. What we can see on the prints are objects of everyday life as well as abstract landscapes but not in a way you'd normally expect. Alena Skodova has the story.

Mr Trojak told me that he used to worked in quite a different profession, and that his art is not a mere hobby for him, but a kind of necessity. He is trying to avoid sinking into an everyday routine and live in a grey world. So what do his photographs show? "I usually take photos on the street, but I don't photograph people very often. I rather take snaps of details which strike me by containing inner poetry. But only with the arrival of computers did I start to use tools which enabled me to express fully what I felt. They give me a free hand in doing what I want."

Mr Trojak told me that he had first come into contact with a computer 15 years ago and now he just cannot imagine working without it. So what does the whole process of creating photo-graphics look like? "When I happen to witness an event or see a detail which appeals to me, I take a photo and put it aside; I never start working on it immediately. Then I look at the picture for the second time, and if it speaks to me again, I put it into the computer and we start communicating, telling each other what might come out of that particular photo. I always have to know what I want to tell to people in each particular print. And this process sometimes takes a long time. This exhibition is the result of five years of effort."

The exhibition "Photo-graphics 2001" will be open till February 8th.