ANTONÍN MIKŠÍK

He lives in a small Moravian village Paseka, near Uničov (Czech Republic). He was a member of the Uničov art group VSUV+H (ca. 1987-1991), since 1992 a member of the art group Octopus in Rýmařov. He deals primarily with photography, but also makes graphics, short movies and writing stories. In 1998 he graduated the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava. He participated in 100 exhibitions.

 
Adress: 783 97 Paseka 163, Czech Republic

E-mail: antomix@seznam.cz  
              amiksik@unicov.cz

 
Group and personal exhibitions (selection):        

1987-1994 – Uničov (Municipal Park)
1988 – Koryčany
1989 – Bruntál, Uničov
1992 – Uničov, Olomouc, Šumperk
1993 – Rýmařov, Opole (PL)
1994 – Hrabová, Olching (GER), Uničov
1995 – Prague, Moravský Beroun
1996 – Prague, Schotten (GER)
1997 – Rýmařov
1998 – Uničov, Brno
1999 – Uničov
2000 – Valencia (ESP), Brno
2001 – Rýmařov, Valencia (ESP)
2002 – Těchanov, Brno
2003 – Uničov, Šternberk
2004 – Svitavy, Rýmařov
2005 – Lešany, Mariánské Údolí
2006 – Uničov, Litovel
2007 – Lešany
2008 – Dubá, Ozimek (PL)
2009 – Rýmařov, Prague, Uničov
2010 – Mariánské Údolí
2011 – Uničov, Rýmařov
2012 – Bieruń (PL), Uničov

 
Movies:

2008 - Talks & horrors without a words
2009 - Drum bun    
2010 - Takeoffs and falls, a strange tricks...
2010 - Sideburns in the full moon or the grotesque trilogy in 35 pictures 

The author chose for his basic file a name "On the road", the title of famous novel of Jack Kerouac, from one simple reason – everything what he tells us with his photographs is also proof of a long journey. He has travelled around Europe, from south to north. Greece, poor but colourful Calabria, Czech villages in Romania, and than to the north: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, where nowadays after fall of comunism is better to forget Russian. And the secret of his photos? It lies in a deep understanding of generally conceived humanity, expressing the society and her activities, regardless of origin or temperament of actors, cultural differences or different languages, reminiscent of the construction of the Tower of Babel...           

The life itself arranges the scenery

In its nakedness

Without decorations

The reality of the moment

The contrast of colors

The desire to capture the truth

The forgotten fraction of the second

The forgotten moment

It comes alive and breathes again…

The pictures document daily experiences in which the author reveals the extraordinary charm of ordinary situations with ease and peculiar sense of humor. They record the movement of people and things in their natural environment. The author does absolutely not claim their views, he stands somehow in the background. When his viewfinder captures a picture, he is not frightened but very relaxed, as if he could belong to all those environments. As if he managed to adapt to their everyday life, to tune into the atmosphere of presence.

Motto: Everything is the way. Whether it´s the famous way to work on Monday morning, Friday´s easy-going way for fun and never-ending way back home, Kerouac's On the Road or a major route to the roots, everything is a way... 

Alternative biography:

Five random facts about myself:
1. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (Pink Floyd song). In Watermelon Sugar (Richard Brautigan´s novel). Diane Arbus´ photos. The North Goa beaches.
2. Absolute relaxation: old t-shirt, shorts, sandals, camera & sunny weather… (in the winter time I sleep like my tortoise :)
3. I hate sentence: Time is money.
4. My favourite ("fateful") number: 18