Jan Kaláb was born in Czechoslovakia in 1978, during a time when urban art was not seen in the Eastern world. In the 1990s, when the country began to open itself up to Western influences, Kaláb became one of the pioneers of graffiti art. Since 2007, he has focused on the abstraction of form and color in his studio work, and studied formally at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. For a decade the artist has explored this depth and motion with a vibrant chromatic energy, exhibiting in institutions throughout Europe, and North and South America.
Playing with variations in geometry, Kaláb paints on constructed canvases of various shapes and combinations. The evolution of his style has led to a distillation of ephemeral color. He captures light and shade that seem to move with the curves of the substrate, becoming one. His pieces are harmonious and minimalist studies – immersive works that reflect his complex understanding of the fluidity in the signs and symbols of abstraction.