Intimate and Raw – Afterglow Revisits the Work of Adam Holý

11. 8. 2026

Adam Holý, Untitled, 2015

On Thursday, 3 September, Fotograf Zone will open Afterglow, an exhibition dedicated to the remarkable photographic practice of Adam Holý. Staged ten years after the artist’s death, the exhibition reflects on his lasting impact on Czech photography while repositioning his work within a contemporary context. Bringing together intimate portraits, spontaneous snapshots taken from a moving car, and lesser-known landscape montages, the exhibition offers a compelling encounter with a complex body of work whose images continue to surprise, unsettle, and fascinate.

Afterglow is neither a nostalgic look back nor a retrospective in the conventional sense. Rather, it returns to an artist whose photographs arguably resonate with even greater urgency today than at the time of their making. Organised by Polansky Gallery in collaboration with Fotograf Contemporary, the exhibition foregrounds a body of work that significantly shaped the trajectory of Czech photography and engages with questions of authenticity, identity, and intimacy that remain acutely relevant to contemporary audiences.

Adam Holý was one of the most distinctive Czech photographers of his generation. Although he is most often associated with fashion, advertising, and portrait photography, his practice consistently exceeded the boundaries of these genres.

Across both his studio work and spontaneous photographs, Holý captured moments that could be at once raw and intimate, provocative and deeply familiar. His images were not driven by a desire to shock, but by an extraordinary sensitivity to the animal dimension of human existence—to desire, vulnerability, and strength,” says the exhibition’s curator, David Korecký.

The title Afterglow refers not only to the physical phenomenon of a lingering reddish glow following sunset or a distant volcanic eruption, but also to Holý’s sustained fascination with natural and cosmic phenomena. This interest unfolded through projects such as String Theory and Outer Core, as well as the publication The Overview Effect, which earned him the title of Photographer of the Year at the Czech Grand Design Awards in 2014. The title also draws on the final phase of Holý’s practice, marked by soft, luminous landscapes suffused with light. These works will be presented on the lower level of the gallery in the form of an artist-designed video sequence created for the exhibition by Roman Štětina.

The installation draws on original prints preserved in the archive of Holý’s brother and deliberately avoids presenting the work as a closed chronology or submitting it to a single interpretative framework. Instead, it emphasises the tension, movement, and intuitive energy that run throughout Holý’s practice. The photographs are arranged into geometric constellations in which the diagonal assumes a central role, invoking movement, perspective, and the internal dynamics of the image.

Intimacy, spontaneity, and a willingness to register emotion without mediation remain among the most compelling aspects of Holý’s legacy. Ten years after his death, Afterglow returns to photographs that have lost none of their immediacy or urgency.

Adam Holý

Adam Holý (1974–2016) was an acclaimed Czech photographer whose practice moved fluidly between fashion, advertising, portraiture, and independent artistic work. He became known for images that combined intimate sensuality with expressive intensity and a distinctive rawness. He collaborated with leading fashion magazines and produced photographic imagery for a number of film posters, including Želary and Pelíšky. Throughout his career, he brought carefully constructed studio portraiture into dialogue with immediate, spontaneous snapshots, while his later work increasingly turned towards landscape and broader forms of social reflection. He died in 2016; his archive is cared for by his brother, David Holý.

Afterglow

Afterglow is organised by Polansky Gallery in collaboration with Fotograf Contemporary. For the exhibition, artist Roman Štětina has created a video sequence based on Holý’s landscape photomontages, using works from the archive of David Holý. The exhibition is curated by David Korecký, director of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Prague.

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