Lubomír Přibyl 

27. june 1937 

Lubomír Přibyl entered the art scene at the turn of 1950s and 60s and very early on diverged from the concept of structural painting known as informel. His visions, in the emphasis on the formative function of light and in the tendency to create a defined system within the artwork, were rather close to the poetics of op-art and to the visual sensitivity of the Group Zero. Hence the regular and geometric sorting of individual lines and surfaces, defined by its fixed scheme, evoking the universal order.

From the very beginning, the path of Lubomír Přibyl has been followed with great intention by respected artist and art critics such as J. Kolář, J. Valoch, or V.Boudník, a graphic artist well known for his innovative graphic techniques. In 1961, 1963, 1965 and 1967, the Přibyl’s works were represented at the International Biennale of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana. In 1964 he was invited to the Pratt Graphic Centre exhibitions in New York, furthermore he was represented by Lambert Gallery in Paris, Van Rossum's RG Gallery in Curacao, Tangente Gallery in Heidelberg or the Gallery of Jean Robert Arnaud in Paris.

Lubomír Přibyl's s large-format paintings create a visual effect of light refraction on the monochromatic surface of black oil paint, or silver aluminium foils covering the entire space of the wooden board. The incident light on the protruding lines of the tightened ropes forms a sharp division on the painting surface. Some parts reflect light while some others absorb it and remain opaque, seemingly in the shadows. Individual segments often copy the diagonal or sinusoid curve, which in a two-dimensional painting creates a rotating motion effect.

Movement, as a dynamic element, is also enhanced in a series of paintings created with founded nets. These evoke in the viewer a sense of undulating space in constant transformation. This series of paintings carries traces of contingency noticeable also in the graphic sheets created as imprints of freely positioned strings.

Lubomír Přibyl belongs to a group of artists who explore the sensitivity of the viewer as well as the fragility, uniqueness and evanescence of a given moment. Through their own movement – angle shifting – the viewer perceives minor changes that occur in the relief painting due to reflections of the incident light. Black colour creates a perfect mirror for observing these metamorphoses.

Auster, silent and unobtrusive beauty of changing shapes requires the viewer to focus and be attentive. Their reward is an intense experience of the seen image transformation in a short period of time.