Jaromír 99: Zámek

Comics book adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel
prints on billboards in Boskovice

Jaromír Švejdík (1963, Jeseník) works as a singer, composer, guitarist and artist; he has been presenting his visual works since 1999 under the pseudonym Jaromír 99, in order to strictly separate his musical and visual work. He is the author of now cult comics, such as Alois Nebel or Bomber.
Due to the absence of standard exhibition spaces in Boskovice, we agreed with the author on an alternative presentation - printing the Castle - a comic book adaptation of one of Franz Kafka's most famous works. Jaromír's Castle 99 was first published in English by SelMadeHero in 2013 (on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Kafka's birth, 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his death - Franz Kafka's second life seems to be framed only by anniversaries...), o a few months later also in Czech by the Labyrint publishing house.
Jaromír 99 for Zámek, similar to some other comics, based on the art technique Scherenschnitt (cut papers are bent in different ways, glued together and torn), realized in a computer.
The story of surveyor K. was interpreted for the comic by David Zane Mairowitz, whose text is preserved, and the artwork of Jaromír 99 emphasizes the isolation, inaccessibility and strange atmosphere of the place. In contrast to the original novel, Jaromír 99 set the events in his native Jeseník, K.'s face reflects the image of the original author himself, at an age he did not live to live.