CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE
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CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE
Eva Kmentová – Hands II, 1968
Supported by the Ministry of Culture
of the Czech Republic
© Institut umění – Divadelní ústav
(Arts and Theatre Institute)
First edition
ISBN 978-80-7008-294-2
All rights of the publication reserved
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION 9
ABOUT THE CZECH REPUBLIC 9
ABOUT THE ARTS AND THEATRE INSTITUTE 11
CZECH ART OF 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES 13
1900–64 13
Founders of modern Czech art
The Interwar avant-garde
Czech art under the fascist government
Art under communism
The unofficial scene in the 1950s
1964–89 18
Czech Art of the 1960s
New sensitivity and new figuration
Action and conceptual art of the 1960s
Normalisation
The Grey Zone
The arrival of postmodernism
FROM 1989 TO THE PRESENT DAY 26
Art after the Velvet Revolution
Dispersed concentration of the mid-90s
The beginning of the 21st century
Current situation
PROFILES OF ARTISTS 41
THEORETICIANS AND CURATORS 51
PROFILES OF THEORETICIANS AND CURATORS 53
MUSEUMS OF ART 56
EXHIBITON HALLS AND NON-COMMERCIAL GALLERIES 59
PRIVATE COMMERCIAL GALLERIES 63
ART SCHOOLS 65
ART EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 67
ART PRIZES 70
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAFY 73
INDEX 75
9 INTRODUCTION / ABOUT THE CZECH REPUBLIC CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 10
INTRODUCTION ABOUT
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
This Guide to Contemporary Czech Art is the latest The CR in numbers wars Czechoslovakia was a democratic state with initiative of the Czech President Václav Havel, the
in a series of publications devoted to different as- a highly developed economy. In September 1938 Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and the
pects of Czech culture. Both the concept and con- The Czech Republic is a landlocked country with Czechoslovakia was forced to accept the Munich Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. Since 2000
tents of this book are the result of the collabora- a surface area of 78,865 m2 lying in the centre of Agreement. On 14 March 1939 Slovakia declared the Forum 2000 Foundation has been supporting
tion of its five-member editorial board made up of Europe. The country borders Poland, Germany, independence, and the next day the German army the international NGO Market.
Lucie Drdová, Edith Jeřábková, Pavlína Morganová, Austria and Slovakia, and is currently divided into took control of the remaining territory under
Jan Skřivánek and Silvie Šeborová, who between 14 regions. Since 2004 the CR has been a member the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The Since 2004 in Prague especially several initiatives
them cover the roles of art historian, theoretician, of the EU. At the end of 2011 there were 10.5 mil- communist period started in 1948. The country have arisen in ad hoc response to critical situa-
curator, gallerist and editor. lion people living in the CR, broken down by age became a totalitarian state and part of the Soviet tions in the sphere of culture brought on by cuts
as follows: 1,541,000 aged 0-14: 7,263,000 aged bloc. Civil society structures were destroyed. The in funding, the ignorance of officials, corruption,
The backbone of the guide is a historical survey 15-64: 1,701,000 aged 65+. Approximately 15% of Velvet Revolution took place on 17 November failure to adhere to binding concepts approved by
of the development of Czech art from 1900 to the the population has a university education and the 1989 and Czechoslovakia changed its political the bodies of representative democracy, and a lack
present day, along with profiles of 40 artists. The proportion is growing. The capital city is Prague regime. Václav Havel became president and later of transparency in the policy and distribution of
illustrations included are intended to illuminate with a population of approximately 1,241,000. was the first president of the new Czech state, funding. Another problem is the lack of commu-
aspects of the text and offer a condensed under- In 2011 GDP per capita was CZK 365,961 (CZK/EUR when in 1993 the country was peacefully divided nication with the professional community. One of
standing of the development of Czech art. The = 25.1) and inflation was 1.9%. In 2012 the country into two independent states: the Czech Republic the boldest recent initiatives is the informal For a
guide also lists the most important institutions and had a flat individual income tax rate of 15% and a and Slovakia. The Czech Republic began joining Cultural Czech Republic. This arose in March 2009
provides links to museums and galleries, theoreti- corporate tax rate of 19%. Pension and investment Western European political structures. In 1999 it in direct response to drastic financial cuts in the
cians and curators, media, art schools, prizes and funds pay 5% corporate tax. In 1992 the corporate became a member of NATO and in 2004 it joined sphere of culture.
a bibliography. Individual entries include a short tax rate was 45% as compared to the present the European Union and signed the Schengen
commentary and a description of the infrastruc- rate of 19%. The minimum wage in 2010 was CZK Agreement.
ture and historical development of the sphere in 8,000 and the average monthly wage was CZK
question. 24,436. This figure was CZK 22,233 in the cultural
sector. The current unemployment rate is approxi- Cultural sector
The breadth, variety and potential of the Czech art mately 8.6%.
scene exceed the scope of this publication. Please The central body of the public administration
regard this guide as a primer pointing the way in the field of culture is the Ministry of Culture,
forward to further knowledge and appreciation. History in brief which supports the arts and cultural activities and
The reproductions, lists of institutions and artists’ looks after the cultural heritage. It oversees 30
profiles are an invitation to familiarise yourself in The history of the Czech state goes back to the state-managed organisations and one benevolent
greater depth with Czech art, either in the Czech 9th century (Greater Moravia) and the 10th century organisation. The Ministry of Culture is responsible
Republic or abroad, where older and now contem- (the first Bohemian State). Historically, the periods for the management of fund finances. However, in
porary generations of artists are being displayed of greatest political and cultural influence were in 2009, for example, public expenditure on culture
more and more often and becoming a fixture of the 13th and 14th centuries (the last Premyslids, as a share of GDP was only 0.74%. The regional
many foreign collections, museums and galleries. Charles IV) and in the 16th century (Rudolf II). In and local authorities also play a role in cultural
1526 the Habsburg dynasty ascended to the Czech policy. Culture is included in the Development
throne and retained it thereafter, incorporating Programmes of all 14 regions. Cultural policy is of
the land into the Habsburg Empire. In the late course also shaped by civil society and initiatives
18th century the first stirrings began of the Czech that have emerged over time in the Czech Repub-
National Revival, an attempt to gain political power lic. Non-profit organisations play a very important
through parties representing the ethnic Czech role. Since 1989 these have taken the form of civil
population. In 1918, after the First World War, associations, not-for-profit companies, endow-
centuries as provinces of the Habsburg Empire ment funds, and religious organisations involved in
(from 1620) ended when Bohemia and Moravia the provision of educational and cultural services.
joined with Slovakia to form Czechoslovakia, an The majority of these are civil associations. In 1996
independent nation state. Between the two world Forum 2000 was founded in Prague as a joint
11 ABOUT THE ARTS INSTITUTE CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 12
ABOUT
THE ARTS INSTITUTE
The Institute was founded as an autonomous de- THE ARTS AND THEATRE INSTITUTE
partment of the Theatre Institute in 2005. Its mis- RUNS THE FOLLOWING
sion is to develop and raise the social prestige of INFORMATION WEBSITES:
the arts. The Arts Institute supports the exchange DE
of information and experience among various art
disciplines, offers information and consultancy culturenet.cz offers up-to-date information ÚSTÍ
NAD LABEM
LIBEREC
PL
services, organises educational activities, and pre- regarding culture and the arts, provides informa-
sents and promotes Czech art abroad. tion about grants and job opportunities in the HRADEC
field of culture, holds a database on cultural policy KRÁLOVÉ
PRAGUE
Provides information and consultancy services materials and the possibility of financial support
CHEB
regarding the possibility of financial support for ar- for projects, and runs a Czech-English database of
tistic and cultural projects from Czech and foreign cultural stakeholders. OSTRAVA
KUTNÁ PARDUBICE
sources (with the emphasis on European Union PILSEN HORA
resources). czechmusic.org provides information about
OLOMOUC
The institute runs the Artists in Residency Pro- people, organisations and musical life in the Czech
gramme, which coordinates reciprocal residencies Republic in both Czech and English.
for artists, and a residency programme in the Egon
Schiele Art Centre in Česky Krumlov for young art- czechlit.cz promotes Czech literature abroad and BRNO
ZLÍN
ists working in the Czech Republic. in the Czech Republic. It provides information on ČESKÉ
It also works on projects from the field of cultural contemporary Czech authors and their works. BUDĚJOVICE
policy, e.g. The Concept for More Efficient Support
for the Arts 2007–2013 (2006), An Input Analysis czechdance.info promotes Czech dance on an
the Cultural Sector (2008), Study of the State, international level. The portal contains a calendar
Structure, Conditions and Financing of Arts in of events, a database of all active bodies covering
the Czech Republic (2011), The Social-Economic all genres, and publishes documents relating to the SK
Potential of the Cultural and Creative Industries in
the Czech Republic (2011) and Czech Cultural and
situation on the Czech dance scene. AT
Creative Industries Mapping (2011). The institute theatre.cz offers news translated into English, the
organises educational activities in the form of Czech Theatre Today newsletter published three
seminars and publications, especially in the field of times a year, a virtual study of ATI´s materials
arts management and cultural policy. It promotes accessible online, a commentary on Czech theatre
and presents Czech art abroad. production, and facts about Czech theatre.
Contact:
Arts and Theatre Institute
Celetna 17
CZ-110 00 Prague 1
T +420 224 809 134
www.idu.cz
13 CZECH ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 14
CZECH ART 1900–64 Founders of modern Czech art the modern is clearly visible if we compare the
Municipal House with the Cubist architecture of the
At the beginning of the 20th century the Czech The exciting transformation of traditional art into House of the Black Madonna, built by Josef Gočár,
OF THE 20TH lands were part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. what we think of as modern art only took place a member of the Group of Fine Artists, only a few
The largest Czech cities, such as Prague and Brno, on the Czech scene in the first decade of the 20th years after the Municipal Building was opened and
AND 21ST CENTURIES were simply small islands of culture on the map of century. The exhibition of Edvard Munch provided in the same location. The impact that Cubism had
a multinational realm covering European terri- the impulse for the birth of Czech expressionism. on the Czech scene was also due to the influence
tory from the former Yugoslavia, via Austria and Young artists of the up-and-coming generation, of the art historian and collector Vincenc Kramář,
Hungary, the Czech lands and Slovakia, to Northern such as Emil Filla and Bohumil Kubišta, were awe- who in the early years of the 20th century had the
Poland and Ukraine. Thanks to its richly diverse struck by Munch’s expressiveness, the simplifica- prescience to buy up works by Pablo Picasso and
history, its rise to prominence in medieval times tion and distortion of form, and the psychological Georges Braque. His activities led to the creation
under the government of Charles IV, the Holy Ro- impact of colours. In 1908 they formed the group of a unique collection of modern French art within
man Emperor, the Hussite protestant revolt, and its Osma / Eight and exhibited what were shocking the region of Central Europe and later to the Na-
subsequent flowering during the baroque period, paintings within the Prague context of the time. tional Gallery in Prague itself.
Prague was always an important cultural centre at However, the interest of this founding genera-
the heart of Europe. In 1799 the Academy of Fine tion very quickly turned toward Cubism. In 1910
Arts was founded in Prague, which at the turn of Bohumil Kubišta encountered the Cubist paint- The interwar avant-garde
the 19th and 20th centuries played host to many ings of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque when
Czech and German artists belonging to a variety of helping to organise an exhibition of modern French The First World War was one of the most extensive
associations. One of the most important of these art for the Mánes Gallery. In paintings such as military conflicts in human history. Among other
was the Mánes Union of Fine Arts, which system- Zátiší s nálevkou / Still Life with Funnel (1910) he things it led to the dissolution of Austria-Hungary
atically ensured that the Czech art scene main- combined an expressionist style with Cubist forms and the birth of an independent Czechoslovakia.
tained its links with the outside world. The Union in an unusual way, thus anticipating the shift in the As a consequence, despite the devastating effects
organised an exhibition in Prague of the work of founding generation of modern Czech art toward of the conflict and subsequent economic crisis, the
August Rodin in 1902 and of Edvard Munch in 1905. Cubism. As well as Bohumil Kubišta we find the period between the First and Second World Wars
[1] A view of the exhibition of 20th and 21st century Czech art The first of these exhibitions provided an important best examples of Czech Cubist-expressionism saw Czech culture and national pride flourish. In
at Veletržní Palace, the National Gallery, photo © 2013 National
stimulus for the development of modern Czech in the work of the sculptor Otto Guttfreund. His the immediate post-war years there was a clear
Gallery in Prague
sculpture, while the second was to inspire Czech Úzkost/Anxiety (1911), which depicts a girl wearing move away from radical pre-war directions such as
painters. an expression of despair and shrouded in drapery Cubism and expressionism. Czech fine art reacted
featuring noticeably Cubist pleats, is perhaps the to the trauma of the war by returning to realist,
At the start of the century Czech culture was inex- best example of this short phase, and evokes the albeit modern images. Artists took a renewed
tricably bound up with Vienna, the capital of the feeling of insecurity prevalent at that time during interest in social issues and humanism predomi-
Habsburg Empire. However, as far as fine art was the lead-up to the First World War. The spiritual- nates overall. In terms of subject matter priority
concerned perhaps the most important relationship ity characteristic of this period is also to be found is given to familiar themes such as family, work
was between Prague and Paris. Many Czech artists in the work of the second symbolist generation, and landscape. Formally speaking we find naive
looked to the energy of modern French art in an especially in those artists belonging to the group primitivism, magic realism and neo-classicism. The
attempt to overcome the academicism, naturalism Sursum. It was in this group that the highly original shocking change in the post-war approach to art
and descriptive historicism of the 19th century still graphic designer and mystic Josef Váchal encoun-
prevalent at that time. As well as en plein air paint- tered Jan Zrzavý, an equally distinctive artist.
ing and illusory realism, impressionism and styles However, the most important coalition at this time
associated with the broad current of secession- was the Group of Fine Artists, which included
ism featured large at the turn of the century. The Osma and other young progressive painters,
Czech painter Alfons Mucha was making a name sculptors and architects with an inclination toward
for himself in Paris, and his work became one of Cubism. Within a few short years these developed
the outstanding examples of international Art Nou- French Cubism into a universal style. Czech Cub-
veau. Paris was also home to František Kupka, who ism was witness not only to the creation of unique
became one of the pioneers of abstraction around paintings and sculptures, but architectural projects
1910. In 1912 his monumental, radically abstract and applied art. In autumn 1912 both groups, the
canvas Amorfa - Dvojbarevná fuga / Amorpha. Group of Fine Artists and Sursum, held independ-
Fugue in Two Colours (1910–1912) was exhibited at ent exhibitions at the Municipal House in Prague.
the Salon d’Automne, Paris, and can be seen today The Municipal House was built as a multicultural
at the National Gallery in Prague [1]. centre serving the Czech population of Prague. If
we wander through its dazzling Art Nouveau and
historicising interiors these days it is clear that
the founding generation of Czech modern artists
was working against public, mostly conservative [2] Otto Gutfreund – Cubist Bust, 1912-13, bronze, 65×50 cm,
taste. The chasm between the traditional and photo © 2013 National Gallery in Prague
15 CZECH ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 16
is best documented by the transformation in the tering, fragments of reality and painted elements. made of the sculptor Zdeněk Pešánek, who from all the painters Jindřich Štýrský and Toyen and the
work of the sculptor Otto Guttfreund [2]. Prior to Devětsil believed in “poetry for all the senses”, an the 1920s onwards was involved in illuminated ki- sculptor Vincenc Makovský. This group had been
the outbreak of war, in works such as Kubistické allusion to the original meaning of the Greek word netic art. In 1930 a work by Pešánek in the form of especially influenced by the second manifesto
poprsí / Cubist Bust (1912–13), Guttfreund had poesis, i.e. creativity in the widest sense of the a sculpture combing light, colour and movement by André Breton from 1929 and had close links
drawn on the most radical Cubist forms. During word. The concept is most eloquently captured was installed on the Edison transformer station not to French surrealists. However, many other art-
the war, while imprisoned as a member of the by the visual poem Abeceda / Alphabet (1926) by far from the Main Train Station in Prague. During ists were interested in surrealism during the 30s,
Foreign Legion in France after demobilisation, Vítězslav Nezval [3], created using the individual the 1930s the first kinetic sculpture in the world such as Josef Šíma, Zdenek Rykr and František
he fashioned the Cubist Ležící žena / Reclining letters of the alphabet and then typographically Janoušek. Avant-garde photographers like Jaromír
Woman (1916) from a piece of wood. However, modified by Teige. The typography includes pho- Funke fell under the surrealist spell, while Karel
after his return he began working in a traditional tographs of interpretations of individual letters by Teige and Jindřich Štyrský worked with surrealist
spirit using traditional materials. For instance, he the dancer and choreographer Milča Mayerová. photographic collages. Surrealism as the last uni-
cast the naively primitivising group sculptures versal avant-garde movement prior to World War
Obchod / Business and Průmysl / Industry (1923) Two put down deep roots in the Czech art scene.
from colourised plaster. A sense of continuity with
pre-war avant-garde energies is basically to be
found only in the work of representatives of the CZECH ART UNDER THE FASCIST
group Tvrdošíjní / Stubborn, comprising adherents GOVERNMENT
of a moderate Cubism such as Josef Čapek, Václav
Špála and Jan Zrzavý. Soon after the Munich Agreement was signed in
1938, which established the right of Nazi Germany
The renewed development of the avant-garde only to the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, the rest
takes place at the beginning of the 1920s. A new of the country became part of the Third Reich
generation of fine artists and writers demanded in the form of the Protectorate of Bohemia and
to make their voices heard within the framework Moravia. Though spared the worst of the fighting,
of the association Devětsil / Butterbur. Over a few Czechoslovakia languished under Nazi despotism
short years this became a recognised avant- and censorship. Like other modern forms of art,
garde organisation with links to the international surrealism was deemed entartete kunst (degener-
avant-garde network, whose members worked ate art). Nevertheless, it survived below the radar
intensively on finding contemporary forms of of official Protectorate culture and the young gen-
expression. A key role was played by poets such as eration of artists regarded it as their natural base.
Josef Seifert and Vítězslav Nezval, along with the The group Ra, made up of poets and artists such
universal figure of Karel Teige. Notable members as Josef Istler, Václav Tikal and Václav Zykmund,
of Devětsil included Adolf Hoffmeister, František openly espoused it, though the group antedated
Muzika, Toyen and Jindřich Štyrský. The first phase its anthologies and activities during the war as
of the movement’s output is strongly influenced by pre-war for understandable reasons. A basis in sur-
poetism, as well as an admiration for the Russian realism can be found in the key figures of Group
[4] Zdeněk Pešánek – Female Torso, 1936, neon - glass
revolution and proletariat. Members of Devětsil - Plexiglas - artificial stone - wood - wires, 140×64×39, 42, František Hudeček and František Gross. Along-
had a keen interest in everything new and closely [3] Karel Teige – Typography for the poem Alphabet by Vítězslav photo © 2013 National Gallery in Prague side the artists Kamil Lhoták, Jan Kotík, Stanislav
followed developments in the spheres of technol- Nezval, 1926, photo © 2013 Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague Zívr and Jan Smetana, they attempted to preserve
ogy, photography and film, architecture and fine adorned the centre of Prague with its changing the achievements of pre-war modernism. The
art. They admired constructivism and Dadaism and The level of Czech interwar typography was also light. Many of Pešánek’s designs, such as Pomník group’s programme was set forth in an essay by
forged links with European avant-garde groups given a boost by the publishing house Družstevní letců / Monument to Pilots (1926), which even con- Jindřich Chalupecký entitled Svět, v němž žijeme /
and schools. The architectural section of Devětsil, práce / Work Cooperative, whose aim was to tained an audio element, have not survived. The The World in Which We Live, which expressed the
at the centre of which was the Prague “purist four” provide its members with affordable, good quality illuminated kinetic sculpture Ženské torso / Female interest of Group 42 in modern life, albeit under
comprising Jaroslav Frágner, Karel Honzík, Vít Obr- literary and graphic books. The typographic style Torso (1936) [4] from the Fontána lázeňství / Spa the conditions of wartime insecurity. Members of
tel and Evžen Linhart, later formed the core was largely created by Josef Sutnar. Later on a Fountain, created for the World Exhibition of Art the group depicted the modern city and its periph-
of Czech functionalism. shop called Krásná jizba / Beautiful Room was and Technology in Paris in 1937, can be seen at the eries in their paintings.
opened as part of the publishing house, which sold National Gallery in Prague. The sculpture includes
A key figure in Devětsil was Karel Teige, not only as artworks and interior accessories, as well as books. coloured light bulbs, neon lights and electrical Prague was liberated on 9 May 1945, one day after
its main theoretician and editor of the magazines The cooperative had a broad membership base installations allowing it to be gradually illuminated. the official end of World War Two. It was already
published by the group, but also a talented typog- and combined aesthetic values and top quality within the zone of Soviet influence, and so the
rapher. Teige published essays on architecture, fine design with a focus on social issues. At the beginning of the 1930s the Czech art scene American army was forced to halt at Pilsen in West
art and modern culture in general. In one essay It continued to flourish until World War Two, moved in the direction of surrealism. In 1934 Bohemia. The brief period in the aftermath of the
he announced the end of the traditional picture though the association Devětsil basically collapsed Vítězslav Nezval founded the group of Czechoslo- war that saw the reunification of the Czech lands
and called for image and text to be combined in at the end of the 1920s. A host of interesting vak surrealists, which brought together the poets and Slovakia, split up during the war, proved to
visual poetry. Visual poems mostly took the form personalities were active on the Czech art scene Konstantin Biebel and Jindřich Heisler, the theore- be a false promise of the renewal of democracy.
of collages combining photography, reduced let- around this time. In this respect mention should be ticians Karel Teige and Bohuslav Brouk, and above A left-leaning political orientation coupled with
17 CZECH ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 18
gratitude to the Soviet Union, whose Red Army U-turns. Immediately after the Czechoslovak coup situation at that time. Young artists and sculp-
had liberated Prague, led to the Communist Party d’état (Victorious February) in 1948, industry tors such as Jan Koblasa, Zdeněk Beran, Zbyšek
of Czechoslovakia winning the elections in 1946. was nationalised, agriculture collectivised, and a Sion, Aleš Veselý and Čestmír Janošek created
Under pressure from the Soviet Union, Czechoslo- centrally planned economy installed. Klement Got- dark, wilfully non-aesthetic structures that took
vakia withdrew from the conference on the Mar- twald, leader of the Communist Party of Czecho- the form of painted canvases, objects and reliefs.
shall Plan and to the amazement of the majority of slovakia, became president. Show trials were con- These artists admired Vladimír Boudník’s graphics,
the population a communist putsch took place in ducted of opponents of the regime and opposing in which he used all kinds of non-artistic tech-
February 1948. All attempts to pick up the threads forces within the party. These Stalinist methods niques, materials and tools. He would press metal-
of the inter-war avant-garde and restore a multi- were confirmed by the huge monument to General lic objects and different materials onto a graphic
layered democratic art scene, with its associations Stalin erected in 1955 above Prague. The death matrix, which were then printed as a monotype.
and magazines, were vigorously suppressed. The of Stalin in 1953, followed by the denunciation of He processed panels using a hammer or other
original hopes of many and their subsequent disil- the cult of personality at the 20th Congress of the tools that he had used as a toolmaker at the fac-
lusionment were summed up in 1987 by Jindřich Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956, led tory where he worked during the 50s.
Chalupecký, one of the key theoreticians of the to a certain thaw in the Soviet zones of influence.
unofficial post-war scene: “We were socialists, and However, this was a very slow, complex process, At the turn of the 1950s and 60s, after a decade of
given the choice of East or West we chose East. well illustrated by the fate of the Stalin monument. stale, figural, socialist realism, structural abstrac-
Not without misgivings. But we believed that the At the turn of the 1950s and 60s the fifteen-metre tion became embedded in the Czech unofficial
socialist system would spread to Western Europe high statue of the mass murderer accompanied by art scene. As well as the circle around the private
and that with this behind us we could try to find a a granite crowd of Czechoslovak and Soviet work- Confrontations, other personalities soon appeared
conception of society different to the Soviet one. ers and peasants still towered above Prague. The who developed abstraction in secret. Václav Boštík
Our attempt to defend the original idea quickly Czechoslovak communist regime put off resolving leaps to mind, as well as many other young art-
foundered. We had placed our hopes in the great this paradoxical situation. It was only in 1961, when ists who longed to try out this liberating way of
liberation of human initiatives. Instead of that, pro- Stalin’s embalmed body was removed from its working for themselves, such as Zbyněk Sekal, Jiří
fessional politicians presented socialism to us as mausoleum in Moscow, that a special commission Balcar and Hugo Demartini. After experimenting
conceptual and artistic uniformity. Some adapted, was set up to sort things out. The commission con- with surrealist painting and despite a strong figural
while others could not. It was a brutal awakening sidered replacing the central figure of Stalin with phase during the 50s, Mikuláš Medek also moved
from a dogmatic doze, but it was beneficial.” another personality, but in the end a decision was toward structural abstraction at the turn of the 50s
taken to demolish the monument completely. To [5] Vladimír Boudník – Structural Graphics, 1965 II, 155×260 mm, and 60s. In 1964 Exhibition D was held in the New
this day there remains a fifteen-metre high socle from the collection of the Ztichlá klika Gallery Hall Gallery in Prague, at which the key figures
Art under communism and architectural stairwell leading to the top of of Czech abstraction at that time were officially
Letná Hill. Now, at the start of the 21st century, this Vladimír Boudník [5] being one such. This highly shown (e.g. Mikuláš Medek, Jan Koblasa, Václav
In April 1948 the National Culture Congress was empty site on a hill in the centre of Prague stands original graphic designer, sensitive artist, and sup- Boudník, Jiří Valenta, Aleš Veselý, Robert Piesen,
held, at which the new Czechoslovak cultural as a reminder of the complex history of the Central porter of the proletariat believed that everyone Jiří Balcar and Čestmír Janošek). The exhibition
policy was drawn up. All existing arts associations European region and the traumas experienced. was born with imagination and creativity and had provides eloquent witness to the paradox of that
and groups were disbanded and a single Union of it in them to be an artist. During the 50s he organ- time. Even though abstraction was at its zenith on
Czechoslovak Fine Artists established. The crea- ised more than a hundred events in the streets of the unofficial scene, this was the first time in many
tion of any groups both within and without the The unofficial scene in the 1950s Prague, at which he explained and demonstrated years that it was possible to see it in Prague at an
Union was officially banned until 1956. Membership the principles of Explosionalism to any interested officially sanctioned exhibition. Crowds of largely
of the Union was the only way to lead an active During the 1950s the continuity of artistic activity passers-by on his easel in front of peeling walls. In unprepared and often shocked visitors flowed
artistic life. Socialist realism was declared the only was maintained only within small, inward-looking his Explosionalist manifestos Boudník proclaimed through the gallery. The more relaxed atmosphere
officially sanctioned artistic style. Culture was to circles. One of these was the post-surrealist circle the necessity of freeing oneself from traditional on the Czech scene was clear, though it remained
be fully under the control and at the service of the surrounding Karel Teige, which included Václav ideas about art. Even though he was primarily constrained by censorship to an extent. The exhibi-
communist regime. Contact with centres of art Tikal, Josef Istler, Vratislav Effenberger, Libor Fára, concerned with the aesthetic initiative of every tion catalogue was destroyed, as was the custom
around the world was inevitably lost as artists were Jan Kotík, and Mikuláš and Emila Medek. Unable individual and promoting his own creative ideas, during the entire period of the totalitarian regime
forbidden to travel or engage in a confrontation of to publish its work publicly the circle released the viewed through the prism of the development of with books that the censor subsequently deemed
ideas. The dogma of socialist realism was too nar- samizdat anthologies Znamení zvěrokruhu / Signs action art in the 60s it is clear that these events inappropriate for the masses. Nevertheless, Exhibi-
row for the Czech, interwar avant-garde influenced of the Zodiac. These typewritten anthologies were represented the first happenings. However, at that tion D indicated that significant changes were
culture, and so many artists sought refuge in the illustrated and signed by members of the circle. time it was Boudník’s graphic work that resonated taking place around the middle of the 1960s on the
seclusion of their studios, in the safety of circles After the death of Karel Teige in 1951 the circle more powerfully. In 1960 a group of young artists Czech art scene.
of friends with shared ideas. It was here that what split up, though its members continued to play interested in abstraction took him as their model.
we call the unofficial scene began to emerge. How- an important role on the Czech unofficial scene. Along with Boudník himself they organised two
ever, this did not involve radically anti-totalitarian Vratislav Effenberger kept the spirit of surrealism private exhibitions entitled Confrontations, at 1964–89
art, but rather oases of freedom within the desert alive and the painters Jan Kotík, Josef Istler and which they introduced work revealing overtones
of totalitarian cultural dominance. Mikuláš Medek moved, each in his own way, in the of structural abstraction, i.e. what became known Czech Art of the 1960s
direction of abstraction, which was current on the as Czech Art Informel. This was a style that could
During the 1950s the communist regime expe- Czech scene at the turn of the 1950s and 60s. not be exhibited on the official scene, and thus Though 1964 represents a kind of milestone in
rienced rapid development and many political Other artists worked on a more solitary basis, can be seen as the most authentic reaction to the Czech post-war culture, it was not a turning point
19 CZECH ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 20
in any wider historical sense. If we were looking of individual galleries to selected exhibition com- The exhibition New Sensitivity offered an overview thus wilfully eliminating the much-revered element
for such a political turning point, we would have missions. The Václav Špála Gallery in Prague was of the neo-constructivist tendencies in Czech art of craft in the production of an artwork. Demartini
to go back, for instance, to 1956, when the cult of a beneficiary of this policy, and during the second of the second half of the 1960s. Jiří Padrta delib- worked imaginatively with these simple elements,
personality surrounding Stalin was denounced, half of the 60s under the leadership of Jindřich erately incorporated examples of Czech concrete for instance availing himself of the fact that the
or forward to 1968, when the hopes induced by Chalupecký mounted an exciting programme poetry and Lettrism in the exhibition. Artists chrome spheres reflected their surroundings or
reforms being made to Czech socialism were vio- that included exhibitions by Marcel Duchamp, the who devoted themselves to visual poetry during the viewer moving in front of the object. In his
lently dashed. The year 1964 stands in the middle Gutai Group, as well as key figures of the Czech the 60s included not only Jiří Kolář, founder of Demonstrace v prostoru / Spatial Demonstrations
of the liberalisation process, when the harshest art scene such as Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová, Mikuláš Křižovatka, but the future Czech president, Václav (1968–69) Demartini reduced the character of the
totalitarian practices of the 1950s were gradually Medek, Libor Fára, Zbyněk Sekal, Jitka and Květa Havel. However, the central role in this sphere was creative gesture even more radically. He threw
being transformed into the relatively freely func- Válová, Jiří Balcar, Adriena Šimotová, Jan Kubíček taken by personalities such as Jiří Hiršal, Bohumila wooden rods into space, creating random constel-
tioning culture of the second half of the 60s. and Zorka Ságlová. Grögerová and Vladimír Burda, who in addition lations that existed only for a fleeting moment. The
to their poetry and translation work systemically ephemeral nature of these acts is caught in black-
For Czechoslovakia the sixties represented a time By midway through the 60s the Czech art scene ensured that information regarding experimental and-white photographs, as in the case of concep-
of reform and the liberalisation of society. From was highly stratified. Post-surrealist, Art-Informel poetry and new progressive artistic trends was tual and action art then and later. During the 60s
the end of the fifties the establishment of crea- oriented abstraction gradually branched out made available in Czechoslovakia. the subjective element of the artist’s intervention
tive groups within the framework of the Union of into broadly conceived “imaginative-art” trends, was dissipated even more in the work of Zdeněk
Czechoslovak Visual Artists had been tolerated. alongside which the dominant roles were played The path to new sensitivity can be seen in the Sýkora. From the mid-60s onward Sýkora collabo-
The up-and-coming generation of artists was first by neo-constructivist tendencies on the one hand, work of the painter Zdeněk Sýkora [6] and the rated with the mathematician Jaroslav Blažek and
to react, forming the groups Máj, Trasa and UB and new figuration on the other. Action and con- sculptor Hugo Demartini. At the start of the 1960s carefully calculated the mutual positions of several
12. Their members had attended art school after ceptual art arose in parallel. Demartini created plaster and wooden structural elementary elements, which he varied according
the Second World War and, despite their strict reliefs whose monochrome colour scheme (often a to a precisely defined structure of an image. The
socialist education, yearned for the restoration deep red) resonated with the structural abstrac- complex combinations of relations eventually led
of a modern form of artistic expression. Isolated New sensitivity and new figuration tion of the turn of the 60s. However, he gradually Sýkora to use the first computers. On these he
from Western art, they attempted to distance inclined to a more rationalist oriented style. In the generated more and more complex structures in
themselves from official Czechoslovak culture New Sensitivity is the name of an exhibition mid-60s he began creating rectangular struc- terms of shape and colour, which he then carefully
and to reconnect with the heritage of the wider organised in 1968 by Jiří Padrta, an art historian tured reliefs featuring chrome spheres. He used transferred to canvas using painterly techniques.
avant-garde. Though their work from the end of specialising in suprematism and the work of Ka- prefabricated parts when creating these objects, This new positive rationality is one of the most
the 1950s and start of the 60s might appear tame zimir Malevič, and one of the key figures in Czech important values of the new sensitivity.
in comparison with what was going on in the rest post-war art theory. His interest in constructivism Marginal activities, such as work with sound and
of the world, within a Czech context it represented and its offshoots saw him join forces with artists movement, form an independent subheading in
a firm foundation for the development of the op- from the group Křižovatka / Crossroads, which the sphere of new sensitivity. During the second
positional creative opinion of the 1960s and 70s. A at the start of the 60s brought together artists half of the 60s, Milan Grygar created a series of
strong generation came into being, which included such as Jiří Kolář, Karel Malich, Zdeněk Sýkora and acoustic drawings in which he investigated the
Adriena Šimotová, Karel Malich, Václav Boštík, Vladimír Mirvald. A fascination with concrete and spatial quality of sound. He concentrated on the
Stanislav Kolíbal, and Květa and Jitka Válová, visual poetry, the structure of visual codes and drawing process itself, as well as on the elemen-
nowadays regarded as leading representatives of the intellectual position of artistic expression put tary creative gesture, whose traces he captured
Czech post-war art. the group at loggerheads with the interest in Art- on paper and in the form of an acoustic recording.
Informel abstraction prevalent at that time. Mem- The result is a new interconnection of audiovisual
The development of creative groups led to the for- bers of the group took the traditional elements of form. In several drawings Grygar used the physical
mation of an oppositional force, the embodiment geometric abstraction and moved them to a level action of his own body, while in others he recorded
of which, the Block of Creative Groups, managed related to the kineticism and op-art of the time, as the movements of different items or mechanical
to push through changes to the way the Union well as to the development of computer technol- toys. Milan Dobeš from Slovakia, who was also on
of Czechoslovak Visual Artists operated at its ogy in the case of Zdeněk Sýkora. Their interest show at the New Sensitivity exhibition, drew on
congress of 1964. The gradual liberalisation of was not so much in romantic and existentially the principle of kinetics in an interesting way. The
society went hand in hand with the liberalisation oriented structural and Informel abstraction but in presence of Slovak artists was a natural part of
and democratisation of culture. Against the wishes the world formed by human culture and technol- the Czech art scene throughout the existence of
of politicians, highly regarded personalities from ogy, i.e. in the new natural order that humanity Czechoslovakia.
the world of culture became leaders of the Union had constructed in opposition to the original prel-
for the first time since 1948. It now became pos- apsarian world. They reintroduced to Czech art or- In parallel with the wave of abstract art, be this of
sible for non-members of the Union to register as der, rationality, as well as a kind of new sensitivity an Informel or neo-constructivist character, figura-
professional artists with the Czech Fund of Crea- unencumbered by old models, myths and symbols tive paintings and sculptures formed a strong
tive Artists, which allowed many hitherto politi- and the artistic forms related to them. On the one current on the Czech art scene of the 1960s. “New
cally unacceptable artists to operate officially on hand this new sensitivity was cold and mathemati- figuration”, as it was called, drew on many dif-
the Czech art scene. Despite ongoing albeit very cally precise – see the work of Zdeněk Sýkora, Jan ferent sources. It was based on French narrative
moderate censorship, from 1964 to 1968 the Union Kubíček and Karel Hilmar – while being lyrical and figuration, as well as pop art, even though the
[6] Zdeněk Sýkora – Black and White Structure, 1965,
permitted a wide range of exhibitions to be held. poetic in the case of Karel Malich, Milan Grygar, oil on canvas, 220×160 cm, at present owned by the Jan latter never caught on within the Czech context
It transferred the administration of the programme Stanislav Kolíbal and Václav Boštík. and Meda Mládek Foundation, Museum Kampa, Prague (the criticism of advanced capitalist society, with21 CZECH ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 22
its consumerism and media world, did not resonate Načeradský and the sculptures by Karel Nepraš environments, and attempted to transform the criterion was the approach of the individual artist
in a country held back by centralised planning and we find drastic deformations and black humour. traditional role of artist and viewer. to the occupation of Czechoslovakia and the sub-
a chronic lack of even the most basic goods). New Many of the pictures and sculptures thematize the Prague Spring, the name given to a series of sequent changes of normalisation. This fact led
realism, which figured in an exhibition of Yves Klein absurdity of the period using grotesque hyperbole reforms that the Czechoslovak Communist Party to an unprecedented deterioration in official art
in Prague in 1968, had a certain influence. However, (Jiří Sopko, František Janoušek, Věra Janoušková, approved at the start of 1968, was a unique at- during this period.
new figuration above all entailed the rehabilitation Naděžda Plíšková, Bohumil Zemánek), but with tempt to democratise the socialist regime within
of the figure held in contempt by socialist realism a new emphasis on existentialism (Jitka and the Soviet zone of influence. However, on 21 Within society as a whole, as in the 50s, this led
and a movement beyond the modernism of the Květa Válová, Adriena Šimotová, Eva Kmentová August 1968 the process was terminated with the to a retreat into the private, into the safety of
50s, in which post-cubist and post-surrealist ele- [7], Olbram Zoubek, Zdeněk Palcr). It was these invasion of Warsaw Pact troops. Soviet forces small circles of friends, where it was possible to
ments still appeared. properties that made of new figuration one of maintained a permanent presence in Czechoslo- trust those around and live relatively freely given
the dominant elements of the Czech art scene in vakia and were only withdrawn after the Velvet the straitened circumstances. Many artists whose
New figuration was not associated with one years to come, when the harsh totalitarian regime Revolution in 1989. At the turn of the 1960s and work during the 60s had shown promise, such
specific group, but was the combination of returned. 70s Czechoslovakia entered the second phase as Stanislav Kolíbal, Karel Malich, Zdeněk Sýkora,
several currents of thought on the Czech art of the totalitarian regime. This was to have far- Adriena Šimotová and Aleš Veselý, as well as Jiří
scene. An important exhibition in respect of the reaching consequences for Czechoslovak society Sopko and Hugo Demartini from the younger
formulation of this movement was that curated Action and conceptual art and culture. generation, closed themselves in their studios
by Eva Petrová and Luděk Novák in 1969 entitled of the 1960s and created unique works during the wilderness
New Figuration. The exhibition included artists of normalisation. Others joined forces in alter-
spread across generations, groups and personal Traditional forms of art were being undermined Normalisation native communities, such as the underground
styles. When selecting exhibits the curators laid from all sides during the 1960s. The most impor- Křižovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu /
emphasis on a feeling of newness, on feelings and tant idea was that the artwork could take any The term “normalisation” is contained in the Crusaders’ School of Pure Humour Without Jokes.
situations prevalent at that time that had char- subject, assume any form, and could be created Moscow Protocol, which representatives of the A wide variety of personalities from the art world
acterised the 60s. In the text accompanying the using any resources. With the liberalisation of the Czechoslovak state were forced to sign on 27 met here, such as Karel Nepraš, Jan Steklík, Eugen
exhibition Petrová and Novák drew attention to regime in the mid-60s information began reaching August 1968. Among other things the protocol Brikcius and Rudolf Němec, as well as several
a new anthropocentrism. However, this does not Czechoslovakia about progressive Western trends, described the occupation of Czechoslovakia by important theoreticians of the 70s such as Ivan
mean that new figuration is more humanist or op- about the Fluxus movement, new music and Warsaw Pact forces as the fraternal assistance of (Magor) Jirous, Věra Jirousová and Olaf Hanel.
timistic: quite the contrary. In the pictures by Jiří experimental poetry, about the sheer variety of the USSR. Normalisation then became the official A distinctive circle of artists formed around the
manifestations of conceptual art. However, even term for the purges and other repressive meas- theoretician and artist Jiří Valoch in Brno. From
prior to this a group called Actual Art had been ures which followed the occupation. In January the 60s onwards Valoch devoted himself to visual
created in Prague centred around Milan Knížák. 1969 Gustáv Husák took over the function of First poetry, conceptual drawing and textual installa-
The group organised several happenings in the Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party tions, and as a curator supported conceptual art-
streets of Prague, such as První manifestace AU / from Alexander Dubček, the central figure of the ists from around the whole of Czechoslovakia.
First Manifestation of AA (1964) and Procházka po Prague Spring, and as the Czechs say “socialism
Novém Světě – Demonstrace pro všechny smysly with a human face” was transformed into “social- Czech artists resolved the dilemma of not being
/ A Walk Around Nový Svět – Demonstrations for ism with goose pimples” (the name Husák could able to exhibit in various ways. Some left for the
All the Senses (1964). All of these events took be translated as Gooseman). The reforms of countryside and developed a Czech form of land
the form of a radical artistic performance that spring 1968 were repealed, and this was followed art within an uncensored environment (e.g. Miloš
expressed the utopian thinking of the group. Later by a huge wave of emigration, the dissolution of Šejn, Zorka Ságlová, Ivan Kafka). Others, such as
on the Aktual movement attempted not only to civil associations and organisation, purges in the Petr Štembera, Jan Mlčoch and Karel Miler, shifted
transform art but the qualitative life of every indi- Communist Party (more than 300,000 members the focus to their own body and the situation of
vidual, as is clear, for example, from the manifesto were expelled), and mass layoffs. Harsh censor- humankind as such. They organised secret evening
Aktual – Žít jinak / Aktual – Live Differently (1965). ship was introduced and the level of civil rights performances in alternative spaces, e.g. the cellars
returned to the state which had prevailed in the of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, where
Thanks to the theoretician Jindřich Chalupecký, second half of the 1950s. Czechoslovak society Štembera worked as a night porter. The exalted
Milan Knížák was soon connected with the Fluxus became Janus-faced, with one opinion being form of body art perhaps best expressed the op-
movement and in 1966 was one of the organisers expressed in public and another in private. Even pressive atmosphere of the first half of the 70s,
of the Fluxfestival in Prague. It was now possible little children quickly learned to play the game when hopes of a change disappeared from the
in Prague to experience live the full force of the of pretence, which Václav Havel, for instance, Czechoslovak horizon.
most avant-garde Western conceptual art. Other unmasked in his well known essay The Power of
action artists were working during the second half the Powerless. Soon after the start of normalisa- Midway through the 70s Jiří Kovanda [8] joined
of the 60s, such as Eugen Brikcius, Jan Steklík and tion the Union of Czechoslovak Visual Artists forces with what was known as the Prague body-
Zorka Ságlová. All of these artists moved in under- was reorganised, with only eight percent of its art trio. However, as opposed to the others, Ko-
ground communities comprising not only artists, original founders able to remain members. The vanda also mounted what at first sight seem com-
but musicians, poets and other personalities who level of official creative production reflected this monplace, almost banal, performances in public
refused to engage with official culture. Like Milan and was again dominated by socialist realism, spaces, operating on the very boundary of being
[7] Eva Kmentová – Hands II, 1968, plaster relief on wooden Knížák, Eugen Brikcius, Jan Steklík and Zorka albeit considerably less strict as regards form. recognised as such. In 1976 he organised several
panel, 76×56 cm, photo © Museum Kampa, Prague Ságlová used the free happening form, alternative The quality of work took second place. The main events in the centre of Prague. In Untitled (1976),23 CZECH ART OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES CZECH CONTEMPORARY ART GUIDE 24
fine art. It describes those artists who during During the 1970s and 80s the main issue on the extent. Czech society learned how to exploit any
the 1970s and 80s could not officially operate in art scene was the schism between official and chinks in the structures of the regime. As well as
public or for whom only a marginal, semi-official unofficial culture and the prejudices regarding the exhibitions of the older generation of artists at
or completely alternative zone of public presen- value and meaning of each. The underground had various out-of-the-way places where it was still
tation was reserved. The term is usually used to been defined by Ivan (Magor) Jirous in his Zpráva possible at the start of the 80s to catch rever-
cover a range of alternative activities by which o třetím hudebním obrození / Report on the Third berations of new figuration, neo-constructivist
the Czech art scene attempted to revive “normal” Czech Music Revival, which had been circulat- tendencies, as well as Czech Imaginative Art,
artistic production after the wilderness of the ing in samizdat copies since the mid-70s. Jirous the new generation of the 70s made its appear-
occupation. Private meetings and confrontations, effectively bridged the anti-regime music and art ance. This was mainly represented by painters
events linked to peripheral cultural institutions or scenes and propagated the idea of non-compro- (e.g. Ivan Ouhel, Michael Rittstein, Tomáš Švéda,
attempts to break into official institutions took mise regarding both: “As soon as the devil (who Jiří Načeradský and Jiří Sopko) and sculptors
place side by side. This basically entailed a set of today speaks through the mouth of the establish- (e.g. Kurt Gebauer, Jiří Beránek and Ivan Kafka)
ingenious ways of circumventing the censorship ment) says – change the title and you can continue from the later formed group 12/15 Pozdě, ale
of the time. Although from today’s perspective a to play what you play, you have to say ‘no, in that přece / Better Late than Never. But other artists
few significant events a year would appear to be case we won’t play.’” This was mainly a reference appeared, such as Magdalena Jetelová, Adéla
sporadic in nature, at that time each of these was to the approach taken by the Czech underground Matasová, Jitka Svobodová, Jiří Sozanský and
[8] Jiří Kovanda – Untitled, Wenceslas Square,
19 November 1976, Prague, performance of immense importance for the entire art scene. group Plastic People of the Universe, which was František Hodonský. Although this genera-
A role was also played by the samizdat publica- later criminalised by the totalitarian regime. During tion worked mainly with traditional painting, it
when he simply spread his arms for a moment tions Sborníky Památce / Anthologies In Re- normalisation, when survival often depended on a expanded considerably the medium of drawing,
and stood as the crowds flowed past him on the membrance (first published in 1984) and Někdo host of humiliating compromises, the ethos of the while in its sculpture there is a clear emphasis on
main promenade of Prague’s Wenceslas Square, Něco / Someone Something (first published in underground sent out an important moral mes- objectivity and installation. Many artists created
he came close to making a political statement. In 1985), which became an important information sage, namely that it is better not to be involved sculptures and installations on the borderline
1969, not far from the place where Kovanda stood, platform. In this respect the legendary publica- in art at all than to be involved in art that does of being land art, as well as working in public
Jan Palach self-immolated in protest against devel- tion Šedá cihla / Grey Brick deserves a mention. not originate from one’s own convictions. For urban spaces. Works were created and exhibited
opments in normalised Czechoslovakia. However, Because most samizdat publications lacked good certain radical representatives of the underground wherever it was possible, whether this be on ten-
Kovanda’s intention was apolitical. He wanted to quality reproductions, the idea was hatched by a even the “soiled” grey zone was in many cases an nis courts in Stromovka Park in Prague (Setkání
overcome the anonymity of the city and disrupt close circle of artists surrounding the Jazz Sec- unacceptable compromise, on the basis of which na tenisových dvorcích / Encounters on Tennis
the barriers that everyone erects around them. At tion to publish off their own bat a catalogue of artistic quality was judged. The underground at- Courts, 1982) or in the hop plantation near the
a time when nobody trusted anyone else, by mak- Czech painters and sculptures belonging to the tempted to create its own structures, a “second Karlovy Vary arterial road (Chmelnice ’83 / Hop
ing this gesture Kovanda sought to open himself to grey zone. Work began on this publication, which culture”, independent not only of official com- Plantation ’83). Action art continued to grow
other people and to strike up contact. The rest of included 78 artists, in 1983, though it was only munication channels but of the social acceptance in significance, with figures like Milan Kozelka,
Kovanda’s street actions are completely unobtru- first published under the title 78/1985 in 1987. Key and hierarchy of values of the first (official) culture. Margita Titlová and Tomáš Ruller expanding the
sive, virtually indistinguishable from the surround- personalities of the older and middle generation The complex relations between the first and possibilities of body art. An entire group of art-
ing flow of reality. Only careful documentation and of Czech post-war art were represented in Šedá second culture, as well as between the official and ists perpetuated and developed the conceptual
the artist’s intention make of them key works of cihla. Only Margita Titlová and Vladimír Merta unofficial, the underground and the semi-official art of the 70s (e.g. Dalibor Chatrný, J. H. Kocman
Czech art of the 1970s. were featured from the younger up-and-coming grey zone, were perhaps most aptly analysed by and Marian Palla).
generation of the 80s. Václav Havel in his essay Šest poznámek o kultuře
/ Six Assides About Culture (1984). Havel makes a During the first half of the 80s more and more
The Grey Zone During the 80s Jindřich Chalupecký was a re- distinction between the first “official” culture and unofficial and semi-official exhibitions took place
spected theoretician and critic of grey-zone art. the second “parallel” culture. He defines paral- in private studios and apartments, in homes
At the end of the 1970s Czech art began to He faced the same isolation and difficulties in lel culture as that which for various reasons the outside Prague in Malechov (1981) and Netvořice
awaken from the shock of normalisation and publishing his opinions in public as did the artists state-controlled media does not want to or cannot (1981), as well as in marginal cultural institutions.
what would later be termed by art history the with whom he was in contact and about whom use. Under the totalitarian regime it was formed Both in and out of Prague small gallery spaces
“grey zone” slowly began to emerge. The term he wrote. For Chalupecký art was the religion of by thousands of different people with limited began to operate that, thanks to the commit-
was used in 1988 in the samizdat magazine His- modern Man. He believed that Czech art arose resources at their disposal for communicating with ment of their operators, as well as the tolerance
torical Studies to designate historians who after under conditions different to those in the West, the viewer or reader. It is therefore defined exter- extended to them by people in official struc-
1968 remained within official structures, i.e. in practically uninfluenced by the art market, and nally; no common ideology or aesthetic links it. tures that were supposed to control them, put
research institutions and universities. Neverthe- possessed not only a different character but a Havel takes issue with many stereotypical opinions together strong programmes. These spaces often
less, they remained in contact with those of their different mission. This idealistic and avowedly regarding the value and function of the first and enjoyed but a fleeting existence. Nevertheless,
former colleagues who had been expelled during transcendental model continued to resonate second cultures. Among other things he reacted they formed an important presence in the events
the purges of normalisation and were willing to powerfully on the Czech art scene into the 90s, to Jindřich Chalupecký, who as well as official and surrounding the Czech art scene during those
meet them, discuss matters, and on occasion though critical voices began to be heard with anti-official (clearly dissident) culture spoke of years and provided an important space for the
help them. The “dirtiness” of the colour grey the arrival of postmodernism. Chalupecký was a genuine, modern culture, which is detached from presentation of artists working in the grey zone.
was symptomatic of the sometimes less than universally respected figure and after the revolu- political and all other ideologies. Good examples would be the gallery space in the
clean compromises which the totalitarian regime tion lent his name to the prestigious Jindřich foyer of the Opatov Cultural House or the cor-
forced upon its citizens. In the end the term grey Chalupecký Award, the Czech equivalent of the At the start of the eighties the activities of the ridor of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemis-
zone became associated first and foremost with Turner Prize. parallel culture expanded to an unprecedented try in Petřiny. Both these institutions are locatedYou can also read
