The exhibition follows on from last year's successful exhibition Metamorphoses of Art: Klára Sedlo and Artificial Intelligence in Dialogue, organized by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at VŠB–Technical University of Ostrava in the FEIKA Gallery.
"After last year's success, we are taking the whole concept even further. While last year's exhibition was about confronting original oil paintings with interpretations by artificial intelligence, this year we are expanding the scope both technologically and by involving new partners. The aim of the exhibition is to show the possibilities that modern technology brings to the visual arts and to open a discussion about the boundaries of human and machine creativity," said Radek Martinek, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at VŠB-TUO.
When paintings speak the language of algorithms
How did the exhibition come about? It started with twelve digitized originals by painter Klára Sedlo. The surrealist canvases, which the artist creates based on her dreams and imagination, were submitted to AI.
Artificial intelligence generated a description for each work, based on which new reproductions were created by several contemporary generative AI models. These text descriptions were also given to art school students as an assignment to create their own paintings based on them.
"At the exhibition, we compare how AI reproduced my paintings and how young artists approached this task. Visitors can guess who actually created the work. Of course, we also exhibit my originals. I myself also reflect on which aspects of the work, such as composition, the AI managed to capture or imitate. For this year's exhibition, I chose particularly complex works," says painter Klára Sedlo.
And how did it turn out? "Some of the paintings were quite a challenge for AI in terms of composition. And, similar to last year, it failed to capture some essential human or emotional moments that were subtly hinted at but are crucial to the overall effect of the work," adds Klára Sedlo.
"It was an extraordinary experience for the children because they were working according to specifications created not by a human being but by an algorithm. Nevertheless, their personalities, imaginations, and sense of color and shape came through in the results," explains Alena Zupková from the Vladislav Vančura Elementary Art School in Háj ve Slezsku.
Art in the digital world
The installation is complemented by audiovisual compositions and multimedia presentations that broaden the perspective on the connection between visual art and digital technologies.
"We have also created a web application that functions as a digital twin of the exhibition. Visitors can use it to view exhibits online, play AI-generated descriptions of the works, or participate in a questionnaire on the perception of artificial intelligence," said Robert Šamárek from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Technology, creativity, and collaboration
The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics at the Czech Technical University, which provided space and technical support for the project. "Connecting technology and art, creating a much-needed dialogue between scientists and artists, and exploring the boundaries between science, art, and algorithms is something that we at CIIRC CTU are very interested in. That is why we enthusiastically joined the project, and I believe that the exhibition will be an inspiration for everyone who visits it," says Ondřej Velek, director of CIIRC CTU.
The exhibition is open to the public until January 4, 2026, in the Atrium of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at CTU (Jugoslávských partyzánů 1580/3, Prague 10, entrance B1).
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of VŠB–Technical University of Ostrava, the Faculty of Economics of VŠB-TUO, the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at CTU, and the Vladislav Vančura Elementary Art School in Háj ve Slezsku are participating in the Metamorphoses of Art 2.0 exhibition.