Bára Prášilová

Bára Prášilová (1979) is one of the most respected contemporary Czech visual artists. Her main domain is photography, but she also makes short films and 3D objects. She has twice received the Czech Grand Design award for Photographer of the Year and has won nu- merous international awards, such as the Hasselblad Master and Clio Award. In 2022, she released her first monograph, awarded the title of Photographic Publication of the Year, authored by the renowned New York art historian Thomas Beachdel, who described her idiosyncratic, surreal photographs as ‘images of wonder’ that straddle the line between beauty and unsettling strangeness. Thematically, Prášilová draws on a very rich inner world of imagination, and above all on her own sense of absurdity. She is not afraid to get to the bottom of things, and although her photographs are harmoniously peaceful at first glance, there are many contradictions in them, referring to many social and personal problems and traumas. Before the final pressing of the shutter release, a series of gradual and meticulously detailed steps take place, from initial sketches, through costume and prop designs, to final adjustments of the set design and the surroundings. In addition to her personal work, Prášilová is also involved in private commissions. For example, she created an acclaimed campaign for the Czech National Theatre, which received an award from the jury of the prestigious PDN Photo Annual Award in New York City. Her works have been exhibited all over the world and have become part of many important private collec- tions, as well as the permanent exhibition of the Moravian Gallery in Brno.