Born in Kolín, Jiránek lived in a small Czech town of Štětí from the age of six, in a house overlooking the River Elbe, and so the river has become one of the main motives in his thinking and a frequent element in his paintings. Jiránek studied applied graphics at VŠUP (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague) with Professor Eugen Weidlich. He worked in the field of his study for approximately 10 years. Posters were his main scope of work, for example for the music groups like Etc..., Marsyas, and others. He also dealt with illustration and typography. Towards the end of the 80s, he spent more and more time doing free painting, which is currently his exclusive activity. Jiránek’s oil paintings are intriguing in their perfect elaboration, his sense of detail and composition, blurred or even dreamy colours, original motives, etc.; all that evokes mystical, melancholic or romantic mood in men. As the most fitting name of his style, we could perhaps agree on the term “meditative realism”.
Jiránek had individual exhibitions for example in the Millenium Gallery in 2001, the Vyšehrad Gallery in 2011 and repeatedly in the La Femme Gallery, where he also had a joint exhibition with his brother Vladimír in 2009. Together with his wife Viktorie, they presented their work in Příbram or in the Portheimka Gallery at Smíchov in 2014, for example.
“It is probably most fitting to characterize my paintings as being mostly harmoniously calm, possibly evoking meditative mood,” Miroslav Jiránek characterizes his work. “The meditativeness of the paintings, supported by the imaging of unreal objects, does not mean that I am a surrealist. There is sometimes decent humour in my work. I try to give the observers of my paintings a chance to find in them an idea to remember,” Miroslav Jiránek adds.
The La Femme Gallery, which celebrates 15 years of its existence in April 2015, organizes exhibitions of the contemporary Czech art represented by the works of significant authors, as well as the young, promising talents. The initial impulse to name the gallery with the French La Femme – Woman was given by the thematic focus of the exhibited works – Woman as an infinite inspiration. However, there are other topics on display in the gallery, including paintings with abstract focus.