Miroslav Střelec: On the surface and in space / Selected works 1968–2010
- EXHIBITION: Miroslav Střelec: In Space and Surface / Works 1968–2010
- DATE: November 27, 2025 – April 19, 2026
- OPENING: November 27, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
- VENUE: Museum of Modern Art, Salon and Cabinet
- CURATORS: Martin Fišr, Martina Mertová
- EXPERT COLLABORATION: Ladislav Daněk
- OTHER COLLABORATORS: Hana Bartošová, Sabina Prokschová, Nikolas Proksch, Zdeněk Sodoma
- GRAPHIC DESIGN: Petr Šmalec
- TRANSLATIONS: Simon Gill, Zuzana Henešová
- EXHIBIT PREPARATION: Ondřej Žák, Radka Žáková, Veronika Langer Klimszová, Petr Holouš
- INSTALLATION: Vlastimil Sedláček, Filip Šindelář, Radka Žáková
- ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMS: Denisa Tessenyi, David Hrbek
- EXHIBIT LOANS: author’s estate, collections and archives of the Olomouc Museum of Art, Uničov Municipal Cultural Center, Opava Regional Archives, private collections
Since the late 1960s, graphic artist and designer Miroslav Střelec (1943–2014) has been one of the most prominent and inspiring figures in Olomouc’s artistic and public life. The work of this versatile artist will be commemorated at the Museum of Modern Art with the exhibition Miroslav Střelec: In Space and Surface / Selected Works 1968–2010, which will run until April 19, 2026.
Miroslav Střelec’s range of activities was exceptionally diverse. The most extensive part of his work consists of applied graphics, primarily posters, catalogs, invitations, corporate logos, pictograms, and orientation systems for public buildings. Equally significant was his work in the field of architecture, where he participated in the design of exhibition displays, interior objects, as well as commercial and hotel spaces, social halls, and building facades. To a lesser extent, he also devoted himself to free graphic design. He was also an active music lover, especially jazz. Those who remember him recall him as an organizer of concerts and music festivals.
From 1960 to 1964, Miroslav Střelec studied at the State School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště in the studio of free and applied graphics. He returned to Olomouc in 1968 after working at the Ivan Olbracht Theater in Tábor, where he worked as a graphic designer. Until 1988, he was employed at the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Olomouc (the predecessor of today’s Olomouc Museum of Art) as a graphic artist, but he also produced a number of works outside his home institution and outside Olomouc. At the gallery, he was responsible for creating posters, catalogs, and invitations to exhibitions.
POSTERS AS THE HEIGHT OF CREATIVITY
He created a collection of exceptional works, particularly in the field of posters. Most were produced using letterpress printing, with a few rare examples using screen printing or offset printing. Despite these limitations, they are characterized by precise work with type and imagery.
In the early years of his career, he preferred abstraction, mainly geometric lines inspired by current trends in contemporary art. The most striking part of the poster was the composition of simple geometric shapes. The color component is either in subtly graded scales or, conversely, through sharp contrasts. Reproductions and photographs generally appear in his poster work rather sporadically at first, and even then in the form of details, which Střelec treats as another element of the composition.
WORK FOR ARCHITECTURE
From the mid-1970s, Miroslav Střelec worked simultaneously on commissions in the field of applied graphics and on spatial works designed for architecture. His first major commission was metal reliefs for a cinema in Uničov (1975), followed by, for example, a large relief entitled Apple (1977) for a primary school in Šternberk and an extensive collection of works for the Jalta community center in Olomouc. Other notable works include a stainless steel fountain for the headquarters of Sigma Olomouc (1978) and the sculptural wall Peace (1983) in the S-Club in Olomouc. The prototypes of these spatial compositions appear in his poster work. Thanks to archival documents, the exhibition will show the original form of the objects, which unfortunately have not been preserved in their original locations to this day.
Miroslav Střelec also repeatedly participated in the graphic design of the pavilions for the Flora Olomouc international exhibitions. He collaborated with architect Zdeněk Štefka, with whom he created a number of exhibitions notable for their colorfulness and design – in 1977, for example, the exhibitions Woman and Flower and Flower and the Environment were held in Pavilion B.
HUNDREDS OF LOGOS AND BRANDS
After 1989, Střelec focused on commissions for newly established companies and institutions. He prepared designs for corporate brands, logos, graphic manuals, and architectural solutions. While still working at the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Olomouc, he designed two versions of the institution’s logo. He was also the creator of the first – and so far longest-used – logo of the Olomouc Museum of Art (1993–2014).
He has designed hundreds of corporate logos and graphic manuals. Despite their utilitarian and transient nature, he devoted equal care to each project. Among his other logos that have so far resisted the pressure to constantly modernize visual identity are those for Hotel Flora, the National Technical Museum, the ANAG publishing house, and the SPEA Polyclinic.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)