Gallery Life #03 – AVU Critiques, a Group Show in the Making, and Tabletalk

May 20, 2025 – Prague

This episode begins with a spontaneous visit to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU), where the Painting II studio was in the middle of final critiques and the Drawing studio was installing for theirs. I dropped by to show some behind-the-scenes moments for those who’ve never experienced what the end of semester feels like in these studios.

Back at HIDDEN Bořivojova, I reflected on the final days of Roman Košťál’s solo exhibition, which ends this Thursday. That same day, we also hosted a guided tour with Roman, which turned out to be a bigger success than expected — more people came than I thought, and the discussion was vibrant and open.

With a one-month gap before Anna Krištofíková’s upcoming show, I started thinking about filling the space with a quick, responsive group exhibition — tentatively titled The Best of AVU. It would feature smaller works selected directly from the upcoming final presentations. I shared the idea with Roman, and his response confirmed I should go forward with it.

In the afternoon, I stopped by Hell’s Smoke BBQ, where we’re currently co-hosting an exhibition featuring both recent graduates and current students from AVU. One of the artworks sold that day, so I picked up the payment to pass on to the artist — and in the process, something new took shape.

Together with the Hell’s Smoke crew, we decided to launch a new format: Tabletalk. The concept is simple — a few informal evenings where two artists are available to chat, share thoughts, and connect with visitors over drinks. No stage, no microphones. Just conversation.

It’s a social extension of the HIDDEN Podcast — which was always about helping people form emotional connections with artists through listening. Artist’s Table takes it a step further: meeting the artists directly, in a casual and open space.

Sometimes art needs a white cube.
And sometimes it just needs a craft beer, a barbecue table, and a good talk.