školská 28

Jiří Skála, born 1976, lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic. He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, and at the post-graduate program at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. His work has been exhibited widely including the following: Tirana Biennale I, Albania; Palais de Tokyo, France; Prague Biennale, Czech Republic; and the UBS Gallery in New York. He is a co-founder of the Etc. Gallery in Prague, established in 2004, and a member of the PAS group, together with the artist Tomáš Vaněk and curator Vít Havranek. He is listed in the Younger than Jesus Artist Directory compiled by the New Museum in New York, and in November of 2009 was awarded the Jindřich Chalupecký Award for young artists in the Czech Republic by Vaclav Havel.
Jiří Skála is known for his playful and witty conceptualist approach to various social contexts and situations. He often employs participants in gamelike interactions in his work, or institutes subtle interventions creating objects that have only been minimally altered but which are no less effective in altering our own perspectives of the given situation. His recent work has focussed on the written word and inter-personal communication, for example, in his ongoing project Handwriting Exchange Skala, and someone chosen from a completely different social and cultural background, become acquainted through a daily process of learning how to copy each other's handwriting