Festka presented unique artistic models of bicycles in collaboration with artists Ondrash & Kašpárek

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Festka shows how to combine art and technology with sport

Karlovy Vary/Prague, Czech Republic, 27 August 2021 – #Festka, the Czech manufacturer of high-end carbon #bike frames, presented the fruits of their latest artists collab during a promotional event at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This time the art side of the equation was the creative tandem Ondrash & Kašpárek (Ondřej Konupčík and Radim Kašpárek). The models elevated to the highest level of design on offer by #Festka were the Scalatore, the top-of-the-range road #bike frame, and the Scout, the all-new gravel model. All the frames that will be made as part of this cooperation will come with a matching painting made by the same technique.

"At #Festka, the history of collaboration with artists is as long as the history of the brand itself. Already in the first years of our existence, we attracted media attention with unique bicycles decorated by painters and illustrators such as Michal Škapa, Jan Kaláb or the duo Tomski & Polanski. The Porcelain frame of 2019, "illustrated" by Michal Bačák, even managed to cross over into the mainstream design media. The collaboration with Ondrash & Kasparek has so far produced two bicycles decorated using a unique technique that these two artists had invented themselves and have gradually perfected over the last six years," says Michael Moureček, co-founder of the #Festka brand.

Ondrash & Kašpárek's technique involves transferring acrylic paints from the water surface onto the canvas. The original idea, which Radim Kašpárek had been working on for about four years, was developed by the artists together during the first lockdown when Ondřej was unable to devote himself fully to tattooing – an activity in which he's achieved great fame thanks to his unique abstract style. The method produces spectacular abstract paintings composed of organic multicoloured shapes on white background. Imagine an octopus squirting ink in psychedelic colours. The artists had already had the canvas transfer perfectly dialled but getting the "clouds" onto 3D surfaces such as a #bike frame, fork, stem and saddle presented a major new challenge for them.

"We'd been attracted to product design for some time and when the guys from #Festka asked us if we'd like to try something with their frames, we were both totally up for it. We don't paint directly on canvas or a 3D object. We paint on the surface of water held in a shallow tank. We pour paint on the surface using self-made tools which we call paddles. They are specially designed to keep the individual colours in parallel stripes which we blow and manipulate into the desired shapes. The canvas or the 3D object we’re painting sits at the bottom of the tank. The transfer happens by releasing the water from the tank very slowly," the artists describe the technique.

"At this level, the frames are true works of art. Such personalised bikes often produced as one-offs or just a handful of pieces not surprisingly cost a small fortune, but the fact that the interest in them is growing shows that there are many cyclists out there who want to stand out and are prepared to pay for quality and uniqueness," adds Michael Moureček.

To add an art historian's perspective, here's what the curator Paulína Ebringerová thinks: "Ondřej and Radim are among a handful of artists who have not been afraid to develop their own "analogue" style in this world where modern technologies seep into everything. The technological process they have developed requires considerable skill and a sure hand because it is irreversible…"

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