Jan Heres
The painter Jan Heres (*1992) is one of the most prominent talents on the Czech visual arts scene, particularly thanks to his original style and artistic approach. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he attended the Painting Studio III under the guidance of Michael Rittstein and the Painting Studio I, taught by Jiří Sopko. He also gained study experience abroad when, between 2014 and 2015, he attended the Painting Studio at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta. In 2022, he took part in an international artist residency in Miami at the THINK+feel Contemporary Art Gallery, USA.
A significant theme in Heres’s work is the human figure, which is variously distorted and rendered in a style ranging from Pop Art to Expressionism. His works thus certainly defy the classical conception of the human figure. The painter avoids realistic details of the human body, using basic symbolic elements and emphasising specific bodily parts. The artist works with a rich palette of colours, which he is not afraid to combine in various ways. It was his year-long stay in Indonesia, as well as a year spent in Valencia, that led him to this veritable colour ecstasy; since then, the painter has favoured much more vivid colours than in his previous work. For Jan Heres, this use of colour is, amongst other things, a vehicle for emotions and is also closely linked to his experience of the themes he depicts in his works. Heres’s latest series of paintings is strongly inspired by his time in America and the theme of gender identity. In addition to painting, the artist has also begun to explore sculpture – specifically ceramic sculpture – in his work.
Solo exhibitions:
2025
Alenka Reloaded, Galerie Via Art, Prague
Follow the White Rabbit… If You Dare, Dot. Contemporary, Bratislava, Slovakia
Downstream, Ludvík Kuba Gallery, Poděbrady
2024
Hell, Hans Ulrich Villa, Ostrava
2023
House of Menander, The Chemistry Gallery, Prague
2022
'Love Buzz', Jan Heres, Dům Radost, Prague
Bite Back, Felixe Jenewein Gallery, Kutná Hora
(UN) Attainable Light, Miami, Florida (with Filip Švehla)
2021
Rainbow in the Rain, Art Library of Municipal Library in Prague
2020
Lovekill, Sokolovna, Brandýs nad Orlicí (with David Mazanec)
2019
Unconsciousness, Galerie ŠČigol, Prague
'370 days sunny', Jan Heres a Filip Švehla, Jan Čejka Gallery
2016
'In Half: Adéla Lustigová and Jan Heres', Via Art Gallery, Prague, CZ
Group exhibitions (selection):
2025
Kiss: Monsters Kissing Better, Dsc Gallery, Prague
Places, Via Art Gallery, Prague
2024
So Close, Yet So Far Away, Jan Heres, Laura Limbourg, Markéta Kolářová, THINK+feel Contemporary, Miami, Florida
Art in Libeň, Galerie Beseder, Praha
Elective Affinities, Portheimka Gallery, Prague
2023
Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Jan Heres, Martin Kačmárek, Dominika Kováčíková, Jan Soumar, DOT. Contemporary, Bratislava, Slovakia
Dragon Fruit, Jan Heres, Laura Limbourg, Markéta Kolářová, Prague
One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor, Radost Rooftop, Prague
IN ARTE VOLUPTAS, Portheimka Gallery, Prague
2022
'18 FPS', Jan Čejka Gallery
15th Price of Art Critics for Young Painting, Galerie Kritiků, Prague
'Blasts Cries Laughter', Pragovka Gallery, Prague
2021
'Mégethos 28', Kampus Hybernská, Prague
14th Price of Art Critics for Young Painting, Galerie Kritiků, Prague
Rainbow in the rain, Art library of the Municipal Library in Prague
2020
Art Prague Fair, Youngrealart, Prague
Real Dreams, Nová síň, Prague
2017
New Wave - Diploma work exhibition 2017, National Gallery in Prague
2014
I Walked Past an Apple Tree, Nakladove nadrazi Zizkov, Prague, Czech Republic
2013
The World Around Us, The National Technical Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
12th ESID - Welcoming of Prague's Spring, K4 Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2012
Twelve Years of the Painting Studio of doc. Michael Rittstein, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Wienna, Austria
