15 March 2022 7:00 PM – 19 June 2022
Prague City Gallery | City Library, 2nd floor | Mariánské náměstí 98/1 | Praha 1 | www.ghmp.cz
Curators: Tereza Jindrová, Karina Kottová, Tomáš Pospiszyl
Curator of the Russian art exposition: Tomáš Glanc
Exhibition architecture: Richard Loskot a studio UAII
Graphic design: Marek Nedělka a Anežka Minaříková
Production: Diana Brabcová (GHMP), Jakub Lerch (SJCH), Ondřej Houšťava (SJCH), Radka Lhotáková (GHMP), Eva Takácsová (SJCH)
15 March 2022 7:00 PM – 19 June 2022
Prague City Gallery | City Library, 2nd floor | Mariánské náměstí 98/1 | Praha 1 | www.ghmp.cz
Curators: Tereza Jindrová, Karina Kottová, Tomáš Pospiszyl
Curator of the Russian art exposition: Tomáš Glanc
Exhibition architecture: Richard Loskot a studio UAII
Graphic design: Marek Nedělka a Anežka Minaříková
Production: Diana Brabcová (GHMP), Jakub Lerch (SJCH), Ondřej Houšťava (SJCH), Radka Lhotáková (GHMP), Eva Takácsová (SJCH)
Exhibiting Artists: Natalja Abalakova, Jiří Balcar, Václav Bartovský, Eva Bednářová, Julie Béna, Zdeněk Beran, Vladimír Boudník, Ivan Čujkov, Jiří David, skupina Dviženije, Michail Grobman, Jiřina Hauková, Anežka Hošková, František Hudeček, František Gross, Dalibor Chatrný, Vladimir Jakovlev, Vladimir Jankilevskij, František Janoušek, Věra Janoušková, Magdalena Jetelová, Ilja Kabakov, Olga Karlíková, Eva Kmentová, Jiří Kolář, Milan Knížák, Stanislav Kolíbal, Jan Kotík, Alena Kučerová, Kamil Lhoták, Richard Loskot, Václav Magid, Mikuláš Medek, Jan Mlčoch, Alex Mlynárčik, Karel Nepraš, Ladislav Novák, Lev Nusberg, Petra Oriešková, Theodor Pištěk, Viktor Pivovarov, Naděžda Plíšková, Vlasta Prachatická, Milan Ressel, František Ronovský, Zdeněk Rykr, Jan Ságl, Zorka Ságlová, Zora (Járová) Smetanová, Ülo Sooster, Adriena Šimotová, Eduard Štejnberg, Petr Štembera, Triple Candie (Shelly Bancroft & Peter Nesbett), Jitka Válová, Květa Válová, Jaroslav Vožniak, Ladislav Zívr, Jana Želibská, Anatolij Žigalov
This exhibition on the life and work of Jindřich Chalupecký, theorist, critic, curator and essayist, arose as an attempt to bring society closer to the intellectual heritage of this enduring figure of Czech culture. It is also the aim of the exhibition to point out the potential role of a theorist or curator in society and their unique ability to connect diverse personalities, places and spheres of interest. Such a person uses the line of their own thinking about the world to outline the position that art occupies in the contemporary world. The intention of the project is not to create a symbolic monument to Jindřich Chalupecký, but to reflect, through a dialogue between historical works and the work of contemporary artists, writers, philosophers and other personalities, upon the relevance of Chalupecký's ideas and activities for today's world, and on their potential to support us in these times, which are difficult from the point of view of art, politics, and humanity.
Throughout his life, Chalupecký promoted and advocated new directions in art and was interested in broader questions around art, primarily with the meaning of art in modern society. He was a proponent of connecting art with life. In today's terminology we might venture to call it ‘activist’ or ‘engaged’ art. He did not believe in the purely aesthetic function of art or of culture generally. Chalupecký’s wide range of interests and influence guarantees that exhibition viewers will, in one form or another, encounter a substantial portion of 20th century cultural and intellectual history from the Czech and, by extension, international contexts. The exhibition gathers the work of over 60 artists over several generations, from world-renowned international figures such as Marcel Duchamp and Ilya Kabakov through the Czech artists of the post-war era, to the reflections of contemporary artists such as Anežka Hošková and Václav Magid.
The diversity and complexity of Jindřich Chalupecký’s life and work also determines the layout of the exhibition: a collection of a number of apparently separate sections divided not only thematically, but also formally. There is an abstracted perspective of Chalupecký's apartment in Vršovice, a reading room with insights into Czech and Slovak artworks, a site-specific section dedicated to Marcel Duchamp and the Russian artists with whom Chalupecký was in contact in the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition also includes “cabinets,” in which historical and archival materials intermingle with the observations and interventions of contemporary artists. The exhibition attempts to work with forms of documentation and current readings of historical events and artworks in an unorthodox manner.
Komentovaná prohlídka výstavy Světy Jindřicha Chalupeckého s kurátorkami Karinou Kottovou a Terezou Jindrovou.
Ke kurátorkám Tereze Jindrové a Karině Kottové se přidá také umělkyně Anežka Hošková, která pro výstavu připravila instalaci s názvem Omnia flammis data, a jejíž vznik nám více přiblíží.
Čtveřice akvarelů reprezentuje Chlupeckého oblíbené literární autory Jakuba Demla, Jaroslava Haška, Ladislava Klímu a Richarda Weinera v symbolické řeči Anežky Hoškové jako květy. Skleněné vitráže vyjadřují rozpolcenou osobnost těchto literátů. Název celé instalace odkazuje k citátu Ladislava Klímy “Všechno vrženo do ohně”.
"Exhibiting is not the ideal way for art to enter society anyway."
Discussion of the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký: The Curatorial, Commissioning and Exhibition Activities of Jindřich Chalupecký.
Debating:
Karel Císař, University of Applied Arts in Prague
Jiří Kovanda, artist and teacher, Faculty of Art and Design, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem
Terezie Nekvindová, Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Tomáš Pospiszyl, co-curator of the exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Date and time: 7 April 2022, 6 p.m.
Municipal Library, 2nd floor
The building has wheelchair access.
Admission is free with the exhibition ticket.
Relay reading from the works of Jindřich Chalupecký with coffee and cake.
The best way to remember the work of Jindřich Chalupecký is to read his texts. On Saturday, 9 April, from 11.00 a.m., a relay reading will take place at the Municipal Library. Six essays representing different decades of Jindřich Chalupecký's activity from the 1930s to the 1980s have been selected. You can actively participate in the event as a volunteer, reading aloud several paragraphs of the text, or listen to a presentation by invited figures of Czech artistic life.
Selected texts to read:
Beautiful Art, 1934
History, 1941
For a More Humane World, 1958
The Abolition of Freedom, 1968
Art and Transcendence, 1977
The End of Recklessness, 1988
Date and time: 9 April 2022, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
City Library, 2nd floor
The building is wheelchair accessible.
Free with admission to the exhibition.
Guided tour of the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký with curator Tomáš Pospiszyl on the topic of Chalupecký and Duchamp.
Date and time: 28 April 2022, 6 p.m.
Municipal Library, 2nd floor
The building has wheelchair access.
Free admission with the exhibition ticket
What was Chalupecký's attitude towards "women's art" and why, within the Czech context, did he on the one hand praise women artists and on the other hand reject feminist ideas? And how can we view his complicated relationship to women artists and their work from the perspective of contemporary (feminist) art theory and history, as well as from the perspective of art practice itself?
The discussion will include: Petra Hlaváčková, Marie Lukáčová and Martina Pachmanová, and moderators Tereza Jindrová and Karina Kottová.
Date and time: 5 May 2022, 6 p.m.
Municipal Library, 2nd floor
The building is wheelchair accessible.
Admission is free with the exhibition ticket.
Babysitting will be provided during the discussion in an improvised play area in the exhibition area. Babysitting is available from 16:00 - 20:00, or until the end of the discussion.
The exhibition presenting the life and work of the theoretician, critic, curator and essayist Jindřich Chalupecký presents the still current thinking and legacy of this personality of Czech culture. The exhibition also aims to highlight the role that a theorist and curator can play in society - his unique ability to connect different personalities, places and areas of interest.
Date and time: 28 April 2022, 6 p.m.
Prague City Library, 2nd floor
Wheelchair access is provided by the entrance from Valentinska Street (elevator).
Free admission with the exhibition ticket.
A guided tour of the exhibition The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký with Tomáš Glanc, this time focusing on the artists of the former USSR whom Chalupecký visited in the 1960s and 1970s.
Date and time: 26 May 2022, 18:00 h
City Library, 2nd floor
The building has wheelchair access.
Free admission with exhibition ticket
Jindřich Chalupecký's work often took place in politically turbulent times. He perceived art not as a world in itself, but in connection with the life of society. How did Chalupecký approach the historical events of his life and what political views did he identify with? How much did they affect his views on art and how do we evaluate them today?
Moderator: Tomáš Pospiszyl
The debate will feature:
Milena Bartlová (UMPRUM)
Jan Bělíček (A2larm)
Zdeněk Brdek (JU)
Jan Wollner (UMPRUM)
Date and time: 9 June 2022, 18:00 h
City Library, 2nd floor
The building is wheelchair accessible.
Admission is free with the exhibition ticket.
The exhibition about Jindřich Chalupecký - his life and work and his legacy from the perspective of today's artists - is slowly coming to an end.
We will say goodbye to it through a processional performance by the artist Kateřina Olivová, who will start the gradual deinstallation of the exhibition and also with a symbolic entrance fee of CZK 1.
The author of the drawings that Kateřina Olivová uses in her performance in the form of tattoos is Tereza Bartůňková. Her illustrations also accompany a book about the life of Jindřich Chalupecký, prepared by Tomáš Pospiszyl and Veronika Čechová and published by the Jindřich Chalupecký Society.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery 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, Group 42 section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Group 42 section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Group 42 section.
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, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment 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.
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.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Chalupecký and women artists section.
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.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Anežka Hošková: Omnia flammis data, 2022, spatial installation.
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.
Photo: Peter Fabo
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Reading Room section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, The Picture Gallery 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, Group 42 section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Group 42 section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Group 42 section.
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, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment section.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Jindřich Chalupecký's Apartment 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.
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.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Chalupecký and women artists section.
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.
The Worlds of Jindřich Chalupecký, exhibition view, Anežka Hošková: Omnia flammis data, 2022, spatial installation.
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.