Ondřej Mestek: Wunder-Wald
Umeni venku and Motol and Homolka University Hospitals are pleased to invite you
to an exhibition
Opening: 20 October 2026, 4.00 pm
Venue: Motol University Hospital
V Úvalu 84, Praha 5 (in front of metro station)
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Painter and visual artist Ondřej Mestek, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, has long been systematically exploring the motifs of mountains and landscapes in his work. Monumental mountain ranges, snow-covered slopes and the human traces left behind in them are the central themes of his paintings, in which he masterfully captures the atmosphere of recreation, winter sports and nostalgia for the Czech landscape. While his canvases often depict nostalgic records imbued with a profound painterly sensitivity to their monumentality, in his spatial installation prepared for the public space of Motol University Hospital, he ventures into the realm of the conceptual object. Here, he has created an immersive installation about a forest that immediately confronts the viewer with a visual and semantic paradox.
The central elements are monumentally enlarged replicas of iconic little trees that people commonly use as air fresheners in their cars. Mestek removes this universally familiar symbol of mass production and instant „forest scent“ from its original context and transforms it into a dominant sculptural element. What was originally a small, inexpensive consumer product becomes a forest that fills the exhibition space.
Through this gesture, the artist opens up a powerful theme that reflects the reality of today’s world: the omnipresence of artificiality and our alienated relationship with real nature. The real forest, its depth, natural scent and organic life are replaced here by an industrial prefabricated product, a chemical essence and a plastic substitute. The exhibition thus becomes a critical and subtly ironic reflection on modern society, which often prefers to modify nature rather than confront its true, untamed form. Mestek’s forest, playing with scale, also brings playfulness, colour and an element of surprise into the hospital.
Ondřej Mestek (1990) graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he studied in the studios of Jiří Sopko and Robert Šalanda. His work focuses on the subjects of mountains, foothills and landscapes in general, including the human traces that remain within them. He explores these motifs primarily through the traditional medium of oil painting, but also expresses himself through three-dimensional objects and video installations.
He exhibits in the Czech Republic and abroad. His recent projects are connected with the themes of mountains and skiing: Fuoripista in Bergamo, Italy (2025), Artiski at the Jizerská 50 in Bedřichov (2026) and Serpentina at KC Vozovna in Prague (2025). The artist’s work was recently included in a presentation of Czech painters at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan as part of the exhibition The Game of Winter Paintings (2026). His exhibition entitled Rekreace is currently on view at the EPO1 Centre for Contemporary Art in Trutnov (2026).
Organiser: Umění venku
In collaboration with:
The project is realised with the financial support of the City of Prague.
