Jaroslav Róna
*Jaroslav Róna (1957 in Prague)
Jaroslav Róna is one of the most prominent contemporary painters and sculptors, with works represented in numerous public and private collections both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Stylistically, his work is associated with postmodernism, neosymbolism, and magical realism. He graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM), specializing in glass art in the studio of Professor Stanislav Libenský (1978–1984). In the mid-1980s, he taught at the Pilchuck Glass School in the USA. Following that, Traver – Sutton Gallery in Seattle held a solo exhibition of his work in 1986.
He was a founding member of the art group Tvrdohlaví (The Stubborn, 1987–1991), considered the most significant Czech art formation after World War II. He designed the visual concept for the cult film America by Vladimír Michálek (based on Franz Kafka’s novel) and was nominated for the Czech Lion Award for his work. From 2006 to 2013, he led the sculpture studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU), succeeding Karel Nepraš and Jan Koblasa.
He is the author of several well-known public sculptures, such as the Franz Kafka Monument in Prague (2003), Mythical Ship in Bratislava (2010), Courage – Jošt of Luxembourg in Brno (2015), and the Red Giraffe in Prague (2020); other works of his can be seen in Liberec, Cheb, and Klenová near Klatovy. His sculpture Victory of the Robots was part of the Czech national pavilion at EXPO 2020 in Dubai. He is currently working, among other things, on monumental granite sculptures themed around the dramatic events of the 20th century – Time of Silence and The Merciful God of the 20th Century.
In addition to painting, he also creates book illustrations (e.g., for Poe, Kafka, Meyrink, Orwell), and designs tombstones for the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague.
Beyond the visual arts, Róna has always pursued a wide range of other activities. He was actively involved in the events surrounding the Velvet Revolution, promoting the Civic Forum. He was a member of the generational theater group Pražská pětka (The Prague Five), for which he co-wrote and directed the play Little Rascal with Tomáš Vorel, and the group Stará parta (The Old Gang), for which he wrote and directed the cult play The Battle for Ještěd. He is a knight of the Order of the Green Ladybird and a pallbearer in the secret organization BKS (The End of the World Is Coming). He performs with the comedic vocal-pantomime trio Tros Sketos, along with František Skála and Aleš Najbrt.
In 1997 and 2017, he held major solo exhibitions at the Prague City Gallery in the House at the Stone Bell. In 2022, he presented the successful exhibition Architectons and Machines at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague. He has also exhibited in Seattle, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, and Venice. With the group Tvrdohlaví, he participated in numerous exhibitions in the Czech Republic as well as in France and Denmark. Comprehensive monographs about his work have been published: Róna (Gallery, 2010), Architectons and Machines (Books & Pipes, 2021), and Apocalypses and Visions (Books & Pipes, 2023). In 2024, he collaborated with his wife, architect Lucie Rónová, on the creation of the Memorial – The Return of Stones at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague’s Vinohrady district. In the same year, he designed the Trifid Lookout Tower for the architectural studio A-Plus, which won third place in a competition for Malešice Park.