Filip Raclavský
born 1976 in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia
lives and works in Velký Týnec, Czech Republic
solo exhibitions
2025 Moment of Balance, CAESAR Gallery, Olomouc
2020 Unstable Alliance (?), JANÁČEK Gallery, Přibyslav
2017 Energy, GalerieZET, Velká Bystřice
2016 Painting No. 344, ZÁMECKÁ Gallery PRO JEDEN OBRAZ, Velký Týnec
2007 Return of the Energy, PATRO Gallery, Olomouc
group exhibitions
2024 Ateliers/24, Olomouc City Gallery
2024 Pre-auction exhibition, ETCETRA ART, Praha
2022 Ateliers/22, Olomouc City Gallery
2020 10. Anniversary, GalerieZET, Velká Bystřice
2020 30. Anniversary since UVUO foundation, Olomouc City Gallery
2020 New Members UVUO, Olomouc City Gallery
2019 Road to Freedom, PAVELČÁKOVA, Olomouc
2019 Moravian Theatre and Philharmonic, 8 UVUO members selection, Olomouc
2019 White Red Blue, Gallery BAVIERA, Centro Cultural de la República Checa, Málaga, Spain
2018 Ateliers 2018, Olomouc City Gallery
2008 Gallery selection, Galerie SKÁCELÍK, Olomouc
paintings in collections
Robert Runták collection
Municipality Velký Týnec collection
Filip Raclavský is collected by various private collectors in Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Hungary and USA
cv
Hejčín High School, Olomouc (1990-1994)
Palacky University - Faculty of Education (2001-2006)
UN mission in Kosovo (1999-2000)
EU mission in Afghanistan (2007-2009, 2010-2012)
Member of Union of Fine Artists of Olomouc (2018-2025)
War veteran
publications and press
Filip Raclavský is offering energy; Galerie PATRO exhibition review, olomouc.cz, 2007
Energie – exhibition catalogue; published city Velká Bystřice, 2017
10 years galeriezet; published city Velká Bystřice, 2020
POST-WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART AUCTION; ETCETRA ART, Praha, 2024
CAESAR Gallery Olomouc, exhibition Moment of Balance, 2025
Video: Report from the exhibition Moment of Balance, 2025; TV Morava
Filip Raclavský is a painter based in Velký Týnec, whose work represents a fascinating synthesis of profound life experience, inner stillness, and raw material expression. Active on the Czech art scene for over two decades, Raclavský returns in his current work to his roots—pure geometric abstraction—following an intensive three-year pivot into figurative painting. However, he transforms this geometry into a living, vibrating organism.
Raclavský’s life path has endowed his artistic expression with a truly unique depth and urgency. Having served as a criminal investigator in a special operations unit for witness protection, a participant in international missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan, and later as a social worker in child protection services and a coordinator aiding victims of crime, he spent years on the frontlines of human suffering, chaos, and evil. These intense life circumstances fundamentally shaped his inner world and perception of reality. Consequently, geometry in his interpretation is neither a cold mathematical calculation nor a mere aesthetic exercise. In response to the information overload and pressure of the modern era, a distinctive architecture of cosmic silence emerges from within the artist. It is a conscious establishment of a universal order.
Raclavský’s signature technique is a tangible dialogue between destruction and structure, where the physical inscription into the medium plays a pivotal role. He begins by applying a dense structural medium onto primed linen canvas, carving deep lines and impressing fundamental geometric shapes with a knife. He then rubs pigments into the resulting fissures and crevices, overlaying them with subsequent layers of acrylic paint; these diverse tones transfigure and gleam from the depths of the canvas as a hidden source of internal energy. The entire surface undergoes a process of controlled destruction, scarred by scratches and incisions made with nails, knives, or spatulas. In a subsequent phase, Raclavský literally caresses the canvas with his palms, applying a delicate layer of paint. This creates maps and boundaries upon the raised ridges of the structure, imprinting the work with a definitive patina of human presence. This subtle monochromatic chaos is punctuated by spontaneous splatters and prints, against which exact geometric shapes and lines stand in calm contrast, defining a distinctive and resolute order.
The resulting works by Filip Raclavský function as sovereign visual spaces. They are places of focused contemplation that, against the backdrop of geometric order, slow down time, silence ambient noise, and reveal the fragile yet unwavering harmony of human existence.