Čeština Pусский

Designers of Atelier JM Lesov

Jiří Karmazín

Jiří Karmazín

*1932

Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, class of Professor Vlastimil Rada. His lifetime work reveals strong bonds to the Southern Bohemia and Italy as the sources of inspiration. Karmazín’s pictures are part of the collections of the National Gallery in Prague, Galerie of the City of Prague, Central Bohemian Gallery in Prague, most Czech and Moravian galleries and other institutions, but also abroad – for example in France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Slovakia, Mexico, Australia, Nicaragua, UK etc. He’s the author of large mosaic in architecture, does cobalt painting on glaze, and glass/mirror engraving. He’s been also active as a lecturer, exhibits regularly both home and abroad, and has been awarded with numerous prizes.

Jiří Laštovička

Jiří Laštovička

*1949

Graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, class of Professor Otto Eckert. In addition to successful career as a freelance sculptor, he has lifetime passion for the design of porcelain sets and solitary works. He’s the author of numerous successful and award-winning porcelain sets, including the representative set PRESIDENT for the Prague Castle. For more than a decade, he’s been working with porcelain bas-reliefs, designed the equipment of the Bussines Class of Czech Airlines, creates solitary kettles reflecting the Chinese Zodiac, or a cycle of unique litophanes. He regularly takes part in sculptors’ symposia, aimed at working with snow or ice. These events got him numerous awards as well.

Blanka Matragi

Blanka Matragi

*1953

A world’s famous fashion designer, the academic painter Blanka Matragi, graduated from the glassblowing secondary school in Železný Brod, and then from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Praze (fashion design department). Having married Dr. Ing. Makram Matragi, she followed him to Lebanon; now she has been living and working there for over 25 years. In 1982, she opened her own studio “Blanka Haute Couture” in Beirut. For over 20 years, she’s been designing original models for the cream of the cream in Persian Gulf countries; lately, she started the same for the exclusive groups of clients in the Czech Republic. Thanks to her royal customers, Blanka is the first European to enter the exclusive world of the palaces, totally closed to the public. Apart from fashion design, Blanka Matragi also designs original jewelry and accessories. Her cooperation with the masters of Atelier JM Lesov (Thun Studio) resulted in the Butterfly tea set. In 2003, Blanka Matragi was awarded once more, this time with the book “An important Czech woman in the world.”

Vladimír Oppl

Vladimír Oppl

*1953

One of the most significant artists of Czech plastic art and the art of medal-making spent his secondary school years at the Secondary Technical School of Ceramics in Bechyně. He then studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (UMPRUM) in Prague. The diverse production of academic sculptor Vladimír Oppl, MFA, is distinguished by its originality and ingenuity and is highly praised both in the Czech Republic and abroad. His work is characterised by many ornamental features and details and precise elaboration. His designs reflect a deep knowledge of history. His most famous pieces include the currently circulating twenty-koruna coin with the motif of St. Wenceslas; he is the author of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the collection of golden medals ‘Magic Prague’, and the collection ‘Life of Charles IV’. The prestigious magazine, World Coin News, referred to the golden commemorative coin, ‘New Town of Prague’, which he designed, as the most beautiful golden commemorative coin in the world. His authorial version of the Czech lion with a tricolour flag decorates the original cup with a saucer, ‘Lion’, which was manufactured in the porcelain factory, Atelier JM Lesov.

Miroslav Páral

Miroslav Páral

*1955

After the studies at a ceramic school in Bechyně, he worked as a kitchenware designer, having introduced a lot of innovations in the field. So far, ceramics is Páral’s predominant subject, but he also uses a lot of other materials. Gradually, his interest switched to human figures, the polarity of men and women, the ancient motifs of Minotaur or Atlantes, stereometric structures of towers, obelisks and pyramids, painful topics of expulsion in the form of monumental bronze suitcases, etc. The figural fragments in Páral’s work have become part of the designer’s furniture, where ceramics is combined with wood, glass and metal; he uses a distinctive approach to working with materials as well as colors. The teeth motif repeats in many versions, different in materials and sizes: from tiny bronze ashtrays to large stoneware or bronze basins. Not only it’s a fresh idea; the sculptor sees a deeper meaning in the examination of unexpected relationships in new situations. Páral realizes his architectural projects, takes part in many exhibitions both home and abroad, and has been awarded numerous times.

Martin Přibík

Martin Přibík

*1972

“A china patriot and occasional wizard”. That’s the self-imposed nickname of this Carlsbad-based designer who gained his experience in the world’s famous Thun Studio. Since 2003, he’s been an independent artist and modeler. He’s been exhibiting on his own since 2005; his works are on display e.g. in the Carlsbad City Gallery, the International Ceramics Gallery in Český Krumlov, etc. In the Futuree Studio, Martin designs and creates models that are trying to push the very technical limits of china. He likes motion; he loves when his artworks “dance”. Martin graduated from the Department of multimedia communication at the Tomáš Bata University, industrial design studio.

Lucie Tomis Volková

Lucie Tomis Volková

*1990

“I can make anything that porcelain technology allows,” says artist MgA. Lucie Tomis Volková who graduated from the field of Ceramic Design at the Secondary School of Fine Arts of Václav Hollar in Prague and from the field of Porcelain Design at J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. She is involved in the authorial production of porcelain in turnkey and customised projects for clients who do not want to blend in with the crowd and wish to be original. Her work comprises both one-piece orders and larger series. She works with top-quality, purely white Czech porcelain. She decorates porcelain using exclusive underglaze painting technology. It is a 100% original, 100% handmade, 100% Czech product.