Image Credit: Matyáš Chochola with his work, Virtues & Vices. Photographed by Reece Straw.

Growing up between Hradec Králové and the Orlické Mountains, Matyáš Chochola found his creative language among architecture, alternative spirituality and the newly liberated visual culture of the 1990s. From artist-run spaces and experimental happenings, that instinct for doing things differently has taken the Czech multimedia artist to Manifesta, the Jindřich Chalupecký Award and now Frieze Sculpture in London.

His latest monumental project, Virtues & Vices of Our Time, reaches simultaneously backwards and forwards. Inspired by Matyáš Bernard Braun’s Baroque allegories at Kuks, where Chochola spent much of his childhood, the series reimagines virtue and vice for a world in which our moral certainties feel considerably less fixed. History, mythology and futuristic forms collide, while experimental 3D concrete printing meets the artist’s decidedly hands-on interventions. Chochola describes the resulting sculptures as contemporary megaliths, made to “balance cosmic forces”.

Three of them – MACE II, METEOR and BRUTALIST – have landed in Regent’s Park for Frieze Sculpture 2026. On Friday 16 October at 2pm, Chochola joins the Czech Centre for a free guided tour of the works. The Czech Centre is currently presenting the 30th Made in Prague Festival, bringing a diverse programme across genres to some of London’s most prestigious venues.

Chochola doesn’t want art telling us what to think. He wants us to stop, look and start dreaming. So take him at his word: wander through Regent’s Park, meet a concrete monster, question your virtues, indulge a vice or two – then follow your wildest idea and see where it takes you.

Your route into art wasn’t exactly conventional – from growing up between Hradec Králové and the Orlické Mountains, surrounded by architecture and alternative spirituality, to artist-run spaces, happenings and experimentation. Looking back, which early experience gave you permission to become the artist you are, and what would you say to a young creative who hasn’t yet found their place or language?

My childhood played an important role in shaping my current imaginary world, which bears the unmistakable mark of 1990s aesthetics – an era that, for me, represents the essence of freedom – and yet this world continues to grow alongside me. It’s something extraordinary that taught me to look deeper beneath the surface of the everyday world. It wasn’t any one specific, one-time experience that gave me that permission, but rather a series of inevitable coincidences that pushed me to discover for myself an uncertain personal path outside the usual rules, where no permission is granted. That would also be my challenge to my younger colleagues – better than advice: follow the call of your wildest ideas and develop your own radically unique interpretation of the universe, despite what others tell you about how things should be done “correctly” – the sooner you realise this, the better.

Image Credit: Matyáš Chochola with his work, Virtues & Vices. Photographed by Reece Straw.

METEOR, BRUTALIST and MACE II begin with Matyáš Bernard Braun’s 18th-century Virtues and Vices, but arrive in our world three centuries later as strange hybrids of history, mythology, technology and popular culture. What did Braun unlock for you – and what do these creatures tell us about virtue and vice now?

In fact, I’ve discovered that the central theme of my sculptures is more deeply connected to history and the distant future than can be defined solely by Braun’s allegories or the mere use of innovative printing technology. What is important to say about Matthias Bernard Braun and his sculptures, however, is that he gave me a kind of key principle for understanding the various forms of a timeless mystery – one represented by the qualities of virtues and vices that have accompanied us for centuries as a clash of the cosmic forces from which we are created. I spent my entire childhood near the Kuks Castle complex, where I admired its otherworldly atmosphere and the monumental sandstone works that stand as its silent mementos. Then I simply added new elements and sources of inspiration from various styles and other historical eras to update this theme and liberate its legacy, so that it might continue into the future and leave Kuks behind.

Image Credit: Virtues & Vices by Matyáš Chochola. Photographed by Reece Straw.

These sculptures are born through experimental 3D concrete printing and then extensively worked by hand. You’re bringing something highly technological into contact with an ancient human impulse to make monuments – where, for you, does the machine stop and the artist begin?

That’s a very well-phrased question. I see a certain inevitability in how the current vision of Virtues & Vices arose thanks to flawless robotic technology, which is immensely valuable and sophisticated. On the other hand, we have pushed this process beyond its limits to the point where we lose control over it – there was a kind of magic in observing it and testing how many more experiments it could withstand. Sometimes I felt that this was only possible because I had hypnotized the entire process myself. Beyond the technology, I perceive my sculptures as structures that serve the same purpose as ancient megaliths – to balance cosmic forces. The boundary of manual intervention in the process is fragile and vibrant; it is neither static nor precisely defined. You feel it in the moment, whether the tool is a machine or your hand – it doesn’t matter. But I also tried to get as dirty as possible.

Image Credit: Virtues & Vices by Matyáš Chochola. Photographed by Reece Straw.

You’ve said that art shouldn’t tell people what to think, but should stimulate imagination and allow people to make their own discoveries. Now these monumental works are standing outdoors in Regent’s Park, encountering thousands of people who may know nothing about you, Braun or contemporary sculpture. What excites you about surrendering the work to that kind of public encounter?

That’s actually the guiding credo behind my sculptures. I believe that when an artist tries to be didactic, it becomes boring. Of course, it’s nice to know the story behind a work and what the artist was thinking – if we have time to chat – but when works are truly great – when they resonate and make people stop for a moment and start dreaming about the ideas behind them – that’s what reveals their quality to me. And with such an exposure like this here in Regent’s Park, I am glad that’s exactly what happens.

Image Credit: Matyáš Chochola with his work, Virtues & Vices. Photographed by Reece Straw.

You have teamed-up with the Czech Centre London for an Artist talk event (16 October) marking the end of the Frieze week, bringing this very Czech conversation with Braun and Kuks into an international setting in London. Does presenting the work here change how you see its Czechness – and what does it mean to you personally to have that cultural support behind such an ambitious presentation?

In fact, I believe that the story of Braun and Kuks is not Czech at all. First, its location in the Kuks landmark makes it one-of-kind example of outdoor Baroque sculpture that is unique across the Europe; moreover, Count Špork’s motivation for creating these works was linked to how he distinguished himself from the Czech nobility and, in particular, the Catholic Church of the time. In this sense, I see the fact that a local story like this one can be articulated as a very compelling commentary on our own broader history. Second, as far as “Czechness” is concerned – this would be a typical example of how Czechs underestimate the impact of their own narratives until they become internationally recognised.

Finally, give us three cultural places in London that mean something to you – a gallery, club, cinema, pub, patch of green, odd little shop, or somewhere completely unexpected. Where are you sending Run Riot readers, and why?

During my last stay in London, I mainly focused on working on my sculptures in Regent’s Park, so nothing special – I enjoyed yesterday’s discounted baguettes at Greggs, and I definitely had to start a day with a cup of coffee at Camden Coffee Roastery. Of course, I completely fell in love with Tschabalala Self’s Fourth Plinth installation, and I was very surprised by the pleasant atmosphere at the Camden Art Center. And last but not least, something special is happening around the Hampstead Heath Tumulus monument.

Find Matyas Chochola at matyaschochola.com and on Insta @matyaschochola

Join Matyáš for a guided tour of his sculptures MACE II, METEOR and BRUTALIST, part of Virtues and Vices of Our Time series, which are currently on display at Frieze Sculpture 2026. Fri 16 Oct 2026, 2pm in the English Gardens, The Regent’s Park.

It’s free, but you need to reserve your place → eventbrite.co.uk

The talk is part of the 30th Made in Prague Festival organised by the Czech Centre. Find out more → czechcentre.org.uk