Romani painter decorates the walls of the new underground garages in Česká Budějovice

Ceske Budejovice - The underground garages of the new transport and shopping center in Ceske Budejovice, which will open to the public for the first time on Friday, are adorned with paintings by Romani painter Paly Pštika from Jindřichův Hradec. On the walls of two floors, he painted colorful landscapes, abstract scenes, animals, and nudes. The man, who is a professional painter and decorator and has been painting portraits and other artworks since childhood, artistically depicted an area of approximately 1,000 square meters here over two months.
    "The unconventional paintings will enliven this facility and also help people navigate the vast parking lot," said Zdeněk Hanzálek, the representative of the investor, to ČTK today.
    The new Mercury center, financed by CB-Mercury center, will serve the public from the beginning of December. It includes over 700 parking spots underground, where so-called Milanese walls were used in construction, whose surface is not smooth. Architect Jiří Střítecký had the idea that the unevenness could be utilized for artworks and reached out to painter Pštika.
    "I have been working with him for about 15 years, and I like the results of his work. I am glad that this guy can express himself like others and doesn’t have to just paint radiators and whitewash walls," explained Střítecký, who is bothered by the fact that capable Romani people have trouble obtaining contracts.
    Pštika was born to Romani parents but grew up in an adoptive family. Therefore, for example, regarding the painting on a Romani theme, which he was supposed to adorn the wall of the ČSOB bank in Ceske Budejovice years ago, he sought inspiration from the works of other painters - he was not familiar with this theme from his own life. However, the bank's executives eventually disagreed on the interior's ideas, and Pštika had to whitewash the already finished painting. "I regret that to this day; it was worked out in detail - horses, a cart with musicians, children. People recognized even the faces I painted based on my loved ones," said the painter, of whose works only abstractions remained in the bank.
    In the Mercury center, according to Střítecký, the painter had free rein, but he had to adapt to the uneven walls and the character of the building. Pštika did not decide on a specific Romani theme here, but he is most pleased with how he managed to paint horses in the lower floor. Besides them, he also painted a large peacock, the sea, landscapes, nudes, and a number of abstract motifs on the walls. The rough surface played into his hands the most, becoming an inspiration for the depiction of mountains, for example.
    For about 40 large paintings, Paly Pštika used approximately 200 kilograms of facade paint - he only used white, red, yellow, blue, and black, from which he mixed other colors and shades himself. "I am glad that they chose me and that I could have such fun here," he reflected on the largest paintings of his life.