BIOGRAPHY
Johann Peter Remesch von Smola
Johann Peter Remesch von Smola was born on March 14, 1967, in Pilsen to a doctor’s family. He demonstrated creative talent from early childhood and a passion for creative work has accompanied him throughout his life. His artworks are represented in galleries around the world.
During his adolescence, he composed music, wrote poetry and co-founded several jazz-rock ensembles. Remesch studied visual culture at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen under the guidance of Professor Karel Frauknecht, Professor Milan Hess and Associate Professor Jiri Novak. He later continued in the graphics studio at The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Professor Ladislav Cepelak. His works from that period had a literary character, which he enhanced by creating paintings and graphic sheets arranged into cycles. He participated in numerous student art competitions both at home and abroad, receiving many awards. He exhibited in Pilsen, Prague, Bratislava, Presov, and Poznan.
In 1988, he collaborated with Otto Herbert Hajek, a German abstract painter and also a head of the sculpture class at that time, at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe. It was on the occasion of an exhibition “Colour Paths” at the National Gallery in Prague.
From 1992 to 1995, he worked as an assistant professor in the department of graphics, applied arts, and drawing at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. In 1993, he exhibited again with Otto Herbert Hajek at the gallery of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.
In 1996, he founded the company Christo 1918, a creative studio specializing in graphic design, marketing, and communication. The company continued a family tradition of his grandfather, who was designing interior designs in Vienna. From 2004 to 2021, Christo received numerous prestigious international awards, such as “Most Innovative Creative Design Agency” (Innovation and Excellence Awards, London) and “Best Promotional Material” (Holiday World). In 2008, the company expanded to Christo Group, with studios for photography, film, design, marketing, web design and interior realizations.
Johann Peter Remesch von Smola is listed in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Leading Women and Men of the Czech Republic “Who is…?” (Hübners blaues Who is Who publishing). He is known for his artworks that evoke fundamental archetypes of human culture, modern phenomena of life on Earth and cosmic knowledge. His work is characterized by a strong expression and a spiritual component of his personality, portrayed with commendable honesty and craftsmanship. Every arrangement of colors, shapes and lines has a conscious justification. Remesch’s work is based on reality, as evidenced by shapes of pyramids, views of cities almost like from satellites, white silhouettes of nudes and colored circles on monotypes. Although his artworks are highly abstracted, the inner feeling is not hidden, which distinguishes his work from some postmodernists. His paintings radiate sophisticated color and thoughtful compositional structure.
Professor Karel Frauknecht had a profound influence on Remesch. Although Remesch has a clear idea of what he wants to paint, he often leaves the final visual rendering to the moment when he applies colors to the canvas with a brush or spatula. This intuitive approach allows his works to precisely capture his inner feeling. The result is an artwork that has its rhythm and depth. Despite the variations in different periods of his creation, it is evident that his artistic instinct and emphasis on space and object remain constant elements. Text from Chebsky denik newspaper, 1996.
Currently, he focuses primarily on painting and graphics in his art studio and remains active in leading Christo Group and its studios.