The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.

Jiří Kolář: A Typewritten Copy of Poetry Collection Liver of Prometheus preserved in Kolář’s police file, 1950.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Group 42 section.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Saint Duchamp section. Author of the multimedia installation: Richard Loskot, 2022.

Marcel Duchamp’s Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, in short called The Large Glass, is a carefully integrated work both in terms of its form and content. It was created over the course of many years and accompanied with an extensive set of textual notes and drawings. The original is three meters high and on permanent display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It consists of two parts: the upper part is dedicated to the figure of the Bride, the lower section to the Bachelors. The whole artwork can be seen as a schematic representation of the energetic processes accompanying the transition of a Virgin into a Bride. The work is not a classical image conveying symbolic content; the author’s ambition was to create a kind of a technical hieroglyph describing the mechanism of desire. The unconventional form of The Large Glass was also determined by the attempt to capture three- dimensional and even four-dimensional space by two-dimensional means.

Although Duchamp never completed The Large Glass, many of its unfinished elements can be deduced from his written notes and drawings. Jindřich Chalupecký was among the researchers who undertook to reconstruct Duchamp’s masterpiece in its entirety. He was particularly interested in the figure of the Juggler who did not make it into the work. He proposed placing the Juggler inside The Large Glass, which he justified by the Juggler’s function as a link between the Bride and the Bachelors, at the same time representing a transition from the lower spatial dimension to the higher one. Richard Loskot’s installation reflects the division of the work into the “ground” sphere of the Bachelors and the “heavenly” realm of the Bride. They are rendered as a projection – a kind of a shadow of the concept of the original artwork. A spatial drawing of the Juggler is set in the gallery space and at the same time in the dimension of the audience. He connects us with the world of the Bride and the Bachelors as well as with Chalupecký’s reflections on the entirety of Duchamp’s work.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Saint Duchamp section. Author of the multimedia installation: Richard Loskot, 2022.

Marcel Duchamp’s Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, in short called The Large Glass, is a carefully integrated work both in terms of its form and content. It was created over the course of many years and accompanied with an extensive set of textual notes and drawings. The original is three meters high and on permanent display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It consists of two parts: the upper part is dedicated to the figure of the Bride, the lower section to the Bachelors. The whole artwork can be seen as a schematic representation of the energetic processes accompanying the transition of a Virgin into a Bride. The work is not a classical image conveying symbolic content; the author’s ambition was to create a kind of a technical hieroglyph describing the mechanism of desire. The unconventional form of The Large Glass was also determined by the attempt to capture three- dimensional and even four-dimensional space by two-dimensional means.

Although Duchamp never completed The Large Glass, many of its unfinished elements can be deduced from his written notes and drawings. Jindřich Chalupecký was among the researchers who undertook to reconstruct Duchamp’s masterpiece in its entirety. He was particularly interested in the figure of the Juggler who did not make it into the work. He proposed placing the Juggler inside The Large Glass, which he justified by the Juggler’s function as a link between the Bride and the Bachelors, at the same time representing a transition from the lower spatial dimension to the higher one. Richard Loskot’s installation reflects the division of the work into the “ground” sphere of the Bachelors and the “heavenly” realm of the Bride. They are rendered as a projection – a kind of a shadow of the concept of the original artwork. A spatial drawing of the Juggler is set in the gallery space and at the same time in the dimension of the audience. He connects us with the world of the Bride and the Bachelors as well as with Chalupecký’s reflections on the entirety of Duchamp’s work.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Russian Mission section.

From 1965 until the late 1970s, Jindřich Chalupecký visited the USSR, mainly Moscow and Leningrad, on many occasions. Before he was removed from his position in the Czechoslovak Artists’ Union during the Normalization period, he participated in official meetings and lectured for his colleagues from Soviet art institutions. He visited and reviewed exhibitions, and was interested in the legacy of the Russian avant garde and the full range of the artistic activities taking place at the time. Most importantly, however, he networked with the personalities in the unofficial or semi-official cultural scene. At that time, most of the artists were in their thirties, and Chalupecký visited their studios, talked with them, offered them a comparative view on the artistic movements in other countries, and gave presentations and lectures. He later wrote about his discoveries and impressions for international magazines. Some of his connections with Russian artists lasted for years, developing through correspondence and the shipments of books, magazines and catalogs. Chalupecký received many artworks as gifts. We have attempted to exhibit the specific artifacts from his former collection, or works that he saw or could have potentially seen in his studios at the time.

Jindřich Chalupecký

A compilation of scenes from the documentary Danuvius, 1968. The abridged version was created in 2022 for the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký with the kind permission of director Jozef Urblík.
Editing: Matúš Pisarčík

Jiřina Hauková: Elegy for Jindřich Chalupecký, 1990–1992.

Jiřina Hauková reflected upon the death of her life partner in the poem Elegy For Jindřich Chalupecký. In it, she reconciles herself with his passing, but also acquaints the reader with his life, views and ambitions. The poem’s text has been arranged by Anežka Minaříková and Mark Nedelka into a wall projections.

Julie Béna: Letters from Prague, 2021, video installation, color, sound, 33 minutes.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, ÚBOK, Lived Art section.

In the 1950s and first half of the 1960s, Jindřich Chalupecký was employed in the Textile Works and the Institute of Housing and Clothing Culture (ÚBOK) in Prague. His work in the arena of applied arts was long considered a concession to the politically complicated times. However, Chalupecký’s interest in the area of housing issues or textile arts was not only an escape into the world of apolitical production, but was linked to his concept of art gaining immediate access to the world of the individual. At the Institute of Housing and Clothing Culture, he also worked with a number of interesting artists such as Olga Karlíková and Zora Smetanová, whose textile creations are reflected in contemporary abstract painting. Current trends make their way into the daily life of society in the form of decorative home fabrics, subtly transforming it.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Chalupecký and women artists section.

Svět, v němž žijeme?, 2020–2021, documentation of a site-specific performance and installation.

Hotel Opera, Prague, 20. – 27. 9. 2020

Svět, v němž žijeme?, 2020–2021, documentation of a site-specific performance and installation.

Hotel Opera, Prague, 20. – 27. 9. 2020

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Anežka Hošková: Omnia flammis data, 2022, spatial installation.

We Don’t Know Henry. Chalupecký’s Correspondence with William Harkins, 2021, research-based project and installation.

Triple Candie is a phantom-like institution run by art historians Shelly Bancroft and Peter Nesbett. Founded in Harlem in 2001, Triple Candie produces exhibitions about art but largely devoid of it. Its primary purpose since late 2005 has been to explore the possibilities of exhibition-making as a critical practice.

We Don’t Know Henry. Chalupecký’s Correspondence with William Harkins, 2021, research-based project and installation.

Triple Candie is a phantom-like institution run by art historians Shelly Bancroft and Peter Nesbett. Founded in Harlem in 2001, Triple Candie produces exhibitions about art but largely devoid of it. Its primary purpose since late 2005 has been to explore the possibilities of exhibition-making as a critical practice.

We Don’t Know Henry. Chalupecký’s Correspondence with William Harkins, 2021, research-based project and installation.

Triple Candie is a phantom-like institution run by art historians Shelly Bancroft and Peter Nesbett. Founded in Harlem in 2001, Triple Candie produces exhibitions about art but largely devoid of it. Its primary purpose since late 2005 has been to explore the possibilities of exhibition-making as a critical practice.

Solidarity with Ukraine

Just before the opening of the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, the Russian army unleashed a war against Ukraine.
This exhibition includes a section focusing on Chalupecký’s travels to the USSR (mainly Moscow) and his relationships with the local artists there. Under the circumstances, we considered it unthinkable to go through with the planned loan from the state-run Moscow Museum of Modern Art. We ended our cooperation with the museum and replaced the missing works with those from the National Gallery Prague, Olomouc Museum of Art and private European collections.
We felt the need to explicitly express our solidarity with Ukraine and our opposition to the military attack against this independent state and its citizens.
At the same time, considering the representation of artists who once worked in various parts of the Soviet Union, we wanted to reflect on the concept of a cultural boycott and the roles of art and of art institutions in the context of war. In lieu of the scheduled release of a video featuring interviews with people who shared their memories of meeting Chalupecký in Moscow in the 1960s and 70s, we decided to design the exhibition cabinet as a space in which Ukrainian and Russian artists currently working in the Czech Republic could express themselves.
The plan to provide space in the exhibition to voices from both of the two countries, however, proved problematic, resulting in a gradual change in the presentation of the room. Artists from the Ukraine and Russia, with whom we held internal discussions, drew our attention to the broader context of the current conflict and the need to reassess and decolonize the discourse associated with the art of the former Soviet Union. At the request of the Ukrainian women artists, we decided to empty the room and leave it as a commemorative site for the victims of the Russian war against Ukraine.

The curatorial team,
Tereza Jindrová, Karina Kottová, Tomáš Pospiszyl and Tomáš Glanc With support from the Prague City Gallery team

Václav Magid: The Moscow Diary: Thursday and Friday, 2021–2022, watercolor and gel ink rollerball pen on paper.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, graphic design: Anežka Minaříková a Marek Nedelka.

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 24.03.2022: Guided tour → Jindřich Chalupecký from the perspective of contemporary artists

Accompanying program 7.04.2022: Discussion → Curatorial, commissioning and exhibition activities of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 9.04.2022: Discussion → Brunch in the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 28.04.2022: Guided tour → Tomáš Pospiszyl: Chalupecký and Duchamp

Accompanying program 5.05.2022: Discussion → "Czech women artists do not need feminist programs." Jindřich Chalupecký and women artists

Accompanying program 12.05.2022: English Guided Tour → The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 26.05.2022: Guided tour → Tomáš Glanc: Chalupecký in the USSR

Accompanying program 6.06.2022: Discussion → "But it's a strange world." The political thought of Jindřich Chalupecký

Closing program 19.06.2022: The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký → Dernissage and performance

The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 24.03.2022: Guided tour → Jindřich Chalupecký from the perspective of contemporary artists

Accompanying program 7.04.2022: Discussion → Curatorial, commissioning and exhibition activities of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 9.04.2022: Discussion → Brunch in the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 28.04.2022: Guided tour → Tomáš Pospiszyl: Chalupecký and Duchamp

Accompanying program 5.05.2022: Discussion → "Czech women artists do not need feminist programs." Jindřich Chalupecký and women artists

Accompanying program 12.05.2022: English Guided Tour → The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký

Accompanying program 26.05.2022: Guided tour → Tomáš Glanc: Chalupecký in the USSR

Accompanying program 6.06.2022: Discussion → "But it's a strange world." The political thought of Jindřich Chalupecký

Closing program 19.06.2022: The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký → Dernissage and performance

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