Hynek Portrait
Hynek Martinec is to present an ambitious two-part London exhibition across Hypha Studios South Bank and Varvara Roza Galleries, bringing together a major new series of paintings with a monumental live wall drawing exploring originality, authorship and human creativity in the age of AI.
Curated by Ben Tufnell, APPLECORE begins at Hypha Studios South Bank, where the London-based Czech-British painter will create a site-specific wall drawing live over six days. Open to the public as it develops, the work acts as a prelude to the second part of the exhibition at Varvara Roza Galleries in St James’s, where Martinec will unveil a major new body of paintings.
Applecore, 2026. Oil on canvas, 50x65cm
At the centre of the project is one of the oldest subjects in art: the apple. Martinec uses the familiar fruit to examine what originality and authorship might mean at a moment when artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how images are created, reproduced and circulated.
Digitapple, 2026. Oil on canvas, 35 x 45 cm.
Detail 1 – The Deluge (After John Martin) 2026. Oil on canvas, 170x240cm
The exhibition develops ideas first explored in Cyberlemon, Martinec’s 2025 exhibition at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague. The new works bring together biblical imagery, the traditions of still life and references to contemporary technology, positioning centuries of painting history against an increasingly digital visual culture.
Cyberlemon, Martinec’s 2025 exhibition at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Martinec said:
“APPLECORE continues ideas I began exploring in Cyberlemon, where fruit became a guide through the history of painting. ‘APPLECORE’ captures the moment before the Fall, when the apple remains untouched, just before Adam and Eve’s bite changes the course of human history. In the age of artificial intelligence, I return to this ancient image and ask what place these timeless stories have in a world where technology is transforming our relationship with images, memory and creativity. At the same time, the apple can simply remain an apple: a quiet, beautiful object beyond symbolism.”
Paradise Lost, 2025. Oil on canvas, 170×240 cm
Known for combining Old Master techniques with contemporary imagery and philosophical enquiry, Martinec has frequently been described as a hyperrealist or photorealist, though his paintings resist such straightforward classification. Images drawn from disparate sources are combined into carefully constructed and sometimes unsettling compositions dealing with perception, memory, authenticity and reality.
The new paintings at Varvara Roza Galleries continue that approach, moving between Renaissance painting and nature morte while exploring knowledge, temptation, memory and transformation. The exhibition ultimately asks a bigger question: what can painting still do that new technologies cannot?
Citizen, 2020. Oil on canvas 100x100cm
The London presentations follow another significant project for Martinec. On 21st August, a new painting depicting the death mask of Jan Palach will enter the permanent collection of the Jan Palach Memorial in Všetaty, Czech Republic. Palach became a symbol of resistance after setting himself on fire in Prague in 1969 in protest against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and suppression of the Prague Spring.
Martinec, who moved to London in 2007 after winning the BP Portrait Award -Young Artist, has exhibited at institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery Prague, National Museum in Stockholm and National Gallery of Finland. His work is held in collections including the British Museum and National Gallery Prague.
Hynek Martinec: APPLECORE Part I, 29th August–1st October 2026. Hypha Studios South Bank
Private View: 3rd September.
Hynek Martinec: APPLECORE Part II, 30th September–20th October 2026. Varvara Roza Galleries
Private view: 30th September
About
Hynek Martinec is a London-based Czech British painter celebrated for works that combine classical painting techniques with contemporary philosophical enquiry, exploring themes including temporality, authenticity and perception.
Martinec studied Classical Painting Techniques with the revered Czech artist Zden?k Beran at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, and moved to London in 2007 after winning the prestigious BP Young Artist Award.
His work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally, including selections for the BP Portrait Award (2007, 2009, 2013) and the John Moores Painting Prize (2014). His work is held in major collections including the British Museum, London; National Gallery Prague; Zabludowicz Collection, London; Sammlung FIEDE, Aschaffenburg; Standard Chartered Bank, London; WCIT Collection, London; Asante Art Collection, Basel; Pro Arte Collection, Prague; Robert Runtak Collection, Olomouc; and Omer Koc Collection, Istanbul.
Jan Palach Memorial Commission– Jan Palach was a 20-year-old Czech student who set himself on fire in Prague’s Wenceslas Square in January 1969 in protest of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and the suppression of the Prague Spring reforms. He became an enduring symbol of resistance, freedom and the pursuit of truth.
Hynek Martinec, HM Jan Palach, 1969, 2021. Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
Martinec’s painting depicting Palach’s death mask will enter the permanent collection of the Jan Palach Memorial in Všetaty, Czech Republic, following its unveiling on 21 August 2026.
Ben Tufnell is a writer, curator, editor and researcher based in London. His books include Land Art (2006) and In Land: Writings Around Land Art And Its Legacies (2019), as well as two novels, The North Shore (2023) and Paradise (2026). He has collaborated with Hynek Martinec since 2013.
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Mark Westall has spent over thirty years creating platforms for culture. Since founding FAD Magazine in 2006, he’s dedicated his career to documenting, championing and questioning contemporary art through publishing, criticism and conversation. As founder and editorial director of one of the UK’s leading independent contemporary art publications, he has interviewed artists, reviewed exhibitions and covered the ideas shaping contemporary visual culture for more than two decades. He also founded Art of Conversation, Despoke and FAD Bazaar, and regularly serves as a judge for international art and photography awards.