About the Octopus Gallery

The beginnings of the OCTOPUS Association must be sought at a time when the words about modern art were inappropriate for its freedom and independence. Active artists, graphic artists, painters, sculptors and photographers began to contact in the early 1980s in the so-called "Uničov parks" organised by the Free Association of Uničov Artists (VSUV) as an independent activity that can undoubtedly be classified as underground. It was created as a protest against the entire climate at the time and brought together artists from the region of Central Moravia, including Rýmařov. The organisers of the activities at that time were L. Adámek, M. Sedlář, P. Mereďa, A. Mikšík and others.

In Rýmařov, the more official KAV – Club of Amateur (covertly engaged) artists was formed around 1986 at the cultural centre, but it retained its extensive independence just like Uničov. In addition to their own activities, they organised exhibitions of important banned or neglected artists. The Olomouc sculptor and architect Jiří Žlebek, Oldřich Šembera, and the mystic Jiří Jílek were exhibited here, as well as the graphics of Josef Čapek and František Tichý. Exhibitions of Michael Rittstein or the "American Poster" were banned. The organizers of the exhibitions were mainly M. Požár, V. Mérák, M. Zoth, P. Klimentová, P. Pasecký, R. Karel, Mr. Vrbeník and P. Rychlý, and the moral patrons were Jaroslav Němec and Jindřich Štreit.

Štreit's activities in Sovinec became a mecca of modern art, surpassing in importance the Prague galleries of the time, which were closely followed, bringing the most important Czechoslovak and foreign artistic protagonists of modern art to our region and undoubtedly strongly and significantly influencing events in both cities. After all, it was in Sovinec at Štreit's place that those interested in art had the opportunity to communicate with their great ideals: Boštík, Tvrdohlavý, Kokolia, Tóth, Kosková, Šimotová, Kučerová, Zoubek, Jankovič, Knížák and dozens of other famous authors, and Jindřich Štreit (also tour organiser to the studios of these artists) thus became a spiritual father for most young authors in Moravia.

The euphoria after the revolution soon enabled the restoration of senselessly liquidated museums in Rýmařov and Uničov. Unchanging permanent exhibitions attract visitors only occasionally, but art exhibitions seemed more attractive, and thus the Octopus Gallery was created. The founder and director of the museum Mgr. Jiří Karel offered mutually beneficial conditions to the artists who had a significant part in the restoration of the museum and gallery, and after a year of adaptation, a new cultural institution and the first exhibition of the Růžička family from Luhačovice were opened at the end of 1992.

A few months later, the gallery welcomed a joint exhibition of authors from the Uničov and Rýmařov circles. After the exhibition in Olching, Germany, they chose the name of a cephalopod - Octopus, an octopus that remotely resembles a brush.

Members of the Free Association of Artists Octopus exhibit individually and together, not only in Rýmařov or Uničov, but also elsewhere, in galleries of small and large cities or abroad. Although completely individual they are linked by originality, technical ability, a modern concept of art, but also close friendship and mutual inspiration. The diversity of authors, techniques, genres and themes or absolute freedom of opinion does not divide them, but unites and enriches them.

During the thirty years of activity, a number of artists and friends worked or are working at Octopus, who also take care of technical matters, installations and transportation of works of art: M. Požár, V. Měrák, J. Požár, P. Klimentová, M. Zoth, P. Mereďa, L Adámek, A. Mikšík, M. Adolf, J. Chovanec, M. Sedlář, P. Pasecký, Z. Požárová, R. Panáček, A. Hnát, J. Vavroušek, T. Králík, M. Mačuda, R. Karel , J. Gažar, L. Mazoch, I. Karlová, A. Zothová, L. Tesař, Z. Habr, J. Raisner, M. Nesetová, J. Víšek, P. Brož, M. Slovák, J. Němec or J. Hroch, later D. Kamenský, L. Kamenská, V. Stanzel, B. Švéda, Z. Přikrylová Nesetová, Gashperack, Š. Lupečková, K. Pánková, M. Kohoutková, R. Zapletalová, A. Rybka, M. Vyhlídal and many others.

Since 1992, over 300 exhibitions have taken place in the Octopus Gallery. Not only emerging or regional artists were represented here, but also artists who had a permanent place in the National Gallery in Prague and in the collections of important galleries around the world.

In the premises of the museum gallery, the works of J. K. Handke, Bohuslav and Daniel Reynek, František Tichý, Josef Čapek, Emílie Medková, Vilém Reichmann, Jiří Jílek, Jindřich Štreit, Markéta Luskačová, Andrej Bán, Tibor Huszár, Olbram Zoubek, V. K. Novák, Vladimír Kokolia, Vladimír Matoušek, Věra Janoušková, Anežka and Miroslav Koval, Richard Tymeš, Alena Kučerová, Jiří Chadima, Dalibor Chatrný, Petr Váša, Oldřich Šembera, Miroslav Sychra, Aleš Lamr, Alena Kupčíková, Václav Bláha, David Cajthaml, Jaroslav Dostál, Stanislav Diviš, Pavel Zajíček, Chrudoš Valoušek, Petr Nikl, Marie Kodovská, Věra Nováková, Pavel Brázda, Milan Knížák, Kurt Gebauer, Hana Rysová, František Skála, Olga Karlíková and many others. Prominent personalities from the field of art history and theory visited the openings and exhibitions, e.g. PhDr. Jiří Valoch, PhDr. Jaromír Zemina, PhDr. Pavla Pečínková, Csc., PhDr. Otto M. Urban, František Dryje, doc. PhDr. Hana Myslivečková, Csc., and others.

In 2018, the Free Association of Artists Octopus was updated into the OCTOPUS Association, whose members and friends continue to successfully cooperate with the Rýmařov Town Museum.

A new publication about the Rýmařov Town Museum and the Octopus Gallery with a comprehensive catalogue of exhibition activities between 1982 and 2016 was published in 2016.