Karel Kunc – Čekatel at Cafe Lajka

Location. Cafe Lajka is a local cafe in Prague 7, not far from Veletržní Palác , it has  a small  red-brick cellar exhibition space that can host solo shows of the emerging artists (the solo-cellar-shows).

Curator. not mentioned anywhere, so my guess is Karel himself.

Artist. Karel Kunc studied in the studio of Spatial Forms headed by Jiří Příhoda at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Space plays a significant role in the implementation of his work.

Personal Opinion. Going to a solo cellar show is always a one of a kind experience (despite the fact that there are usually a number of them being open at the same time in Prague), anyhow it usually involves closer communication with the people who work at a given cafe: you need to come and ask about the show, state your intention to see it, and if you are lucky the show will still be there. In the case of this show nobody has requested to see it before us, so the bartender went down to switch the lights on for us. What concerns the exhibition itself, there were no texts whatsoever and it took me a while to find anything about the artist online. The title of the exhibition reads trainee in English, though I cannot say for sure how are these works, connected to the topic, but if I may guess, it is somehow connected to the concept of learning to be an artist and wavering of it: the paper is so thin and the movement of the inked brush has to be precise and accurate to produce such works;  I might suggest, Karel had to learn and experiment to achieve given results. It is minimalism, it is abstraction, very similar to many other works but in his case the communication of medium and technique are almost entrancing. I would gladly visit a vernissage to ask Karel, what it is all about.

IVANA LOMOVÁ – THE BEDROOM PAINTINGS at Villa Pelle

Location. A neo-renaissance building in the residential area of Prague 6 surrounded by unique historical buildings, located in a quiet quarter yet easily accessible, Villa Pelle is an ideal space for various cultural and social events of different nature. Four renovated floors of a spacious house host events which, while both independent of each other, are still connected and meet the cultural and social needs of visitors of diverse ages and interests. This is a great example of a historic building renovated to be as close to the white cube as possible and still save its charm.

Porte association, which is the keeper of Villa Pelle, is a non-government, non-profit voluntary organisation which has, since its founding, organised dozens of cultural events – art exhibitions, concerts, programmes for seniors and children.

Curator. Marek Pokorný — a well-established Czech curator and art critic (8 years as a head of Moravia Gallery, Detail magazine founder and editor-in-chief from 1995-2000)

Artist. Ivana Lomova  (1959) graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague. In the late eighties and early nineties she illustrated more than 25 books, as well as created comic books, animated films and graphic art. Over time she replaced illustrations with free composition. Since the end of the nineties she has regularly had her artworks displayed both locally and abroad. Initially, her artwork was inspired by Czech grotesque style, gradually taking on a deeper existential meaning and treating topics such as the memory, reminiscences, social and family rituals, relations between close people, gender roles, solitude and the intricacy of the relationship between a man and woman. Currently, she dedicates all her work to paintings. She usually works in a series, developing a selected topic. Her cafés, trains, jungle paintings from „the Paradise“ series as well as her series in the interior entitled „Solitudes“ are well known. Awards: Best Graphic Work of 1994; The Most Beautiful Czech Book of 2005; Art Colony, Avsenik, Slovenia, 2006; she was also one of the finalists of the Celeste Prize in 2009. She lives and works in Prague.

that is the first exhibition room, it has a painting on the wall to the left, which obviously cannot be seen from this angle

Ivana Lomova’s artworks are not defined by the “magic realism”. so characteristic of her photographs, that allows us to precisely identify the situation in which the portrayed characters find themselves – and in which we are subject to its emotional charge, but by her ability to bring out the meaning of each particular environment to the maximum. Her artworks are always somewhat localised: to a café, an urban space, to the beach, onto a path, into a room. This time it is the bedroom, a synonym for intimacy, privacy, coyness, traumas and consolation.      – Marek Pokorný

Personal Opinion. It is a well-structured show that fits perfectly to the layout of Villa and creates an intimacy so real, that it even feels a bit awkward to be around these silent people and places, as if you are invading somehow (literally in our case, because we came on Monday, but were still let in thanks to the kindness of the staff). The most impressive part was the one with bright and open windows, which on the white walls of Villa looked convincingly real. There is a certain amount of melancholy in Ivana’s paintings, which produce an effect close to Edward Hopper’s works, you are confronted by the shadows, the vanishing points, the brightness of the light, the roughness of the faces.

L. Klodová: Showrooms at Nod Gallery

Location. In 1992, Linhart’s Foundation initiated the formation of the legendary Roxy club and later also Experimental Space NoD as well as Communication Space Školská 28. All three have been working as sovereign cultural organizations based in Prague 1. Experimental Space NoD offers inexhaustible possibilities for both artistic and social experiments, whether it is an experimental form of theater or the approach to education, learning and undermining prejudice. The space is located within walking distance from the Old Town square and Náměstí Republiky.

Curator. Jiří Machalický – established Czech curator, full-time curator at Nod experimental space

Artist. Lenka Klodová draws inspiration from motherhood, corporeality, and relations between men and women. She is openly concerned with sexuality and everything associated with it. She approaches her subjects sensibly and with due understanding, but also with a robust sense of hyperbole, irony, and humour. She reflects on attributes of female and male beauty, on differences between the two, as well as on differences in our judgments about them. She bases herself on her personal experience but also on standards embraced in that respect during various epochs in the history of art. She is interested in historical transformations of attitudes towards corporeality in the course of the development of human society. She is concerned with the differences between male and female artists´ approaches to sexuality. She likewise examines correlations between artistic expression and pornography, as a form targeting almost exclusively male audiences. In more than a few respects, she reaches beyond some seemingly unencroachable boundaries, thereby impelling us to perceive reality with new eyes.

Sorry about the quality, but who can hold a phone still when he has just witnessed a full frontal nudity in a kids bedroom.

It is in the plan of the current show to put 6 professional strip dancers into each of the furnished settings, where they then will perform to their personal favorite song, afterwards all the videos combined will create the full exhibition. The last dance date is the evening of the 2nd vernissage.

Personal Opinion. At the moment of our visit it has only been 2 videos in, but the show has had its effect on us immediately as we walked into the video room. The genius of simple shock works great in the context of the show: you walk into a seemingly calm and safe environment of the everyday routine, resembling standard Ikea setting, but as you are exposed to the video, you are suddenly very far out of the comfort zone and in the land of cognitive dissonance. I am not a sexist, but I would love to make a video of people walking into the room, so that later it would be possible to compare the reaction of different gender.

Tomáš Motal: Traum records at Nod Mini

Location. NoD Mini Galleri is a tiny white corner on the ground floor of the cafe, pass the cloak room. This space does not provide enough room to host big shows, but is enough to make a statement and place several small pieces if they work well together.

Curator.Tereza Kopecká

Artist.Tomáš Motal is a singer of an electro-punk band Schwartzprior, vinyl album art designer. The artists claims that the cover art of the vinyl has the same value as the artistic image. Graphic design plays a very important role for vinyl covers, which are very popular again today.

As he is interested both in music and graphics, Tomas creates decadent graphic comics, whose heroes are often frontmen of rock bands. He later repackages vinyl with fictional band covers, which are now at the display at Nod Mini.

Personal Opinion. It is hard to assess such a small show, but what stands out the most is the availability of the works: anyone can come and hold the covers, as if it were in the vinyl shop (it seems some of them were already taken by the visitors), which of course is no surprise as NoD positions itself as an experimental space. On top of that the quality of the works is impressive and if there are no real bands to have these covers Tomas was right to create his own.

Milan Grygar: The Visual and the Acoustic at Municipal Library

Location. The Municipal Library of Prague, situated in Mariánské Square, was built between 1925 and 1928 according to the design of architect František Roith, student of the professor of the Vienna Academy and foremost architect, Otto Wagner. The extensive exhibition spaces on the 2nd floor were acquired by Prague City Gallery in 1992.

Curator. Hana Lavrová

Artist. In his work, Milan Grygar has continuously focused on the relationship between image, sound and space. There, his concept is thoroughly original and indeed, unique in the context of contemporary art. Rather than relating to the domestic art scene, it brings his idiom close to the current trends prevailing in European and American art.

The current retrospective shows Grygar’s output on a time-scale ranging from the mid-1960s, when he fi rst linked the realization of an art work with spatial attributes of sound, to the present stage, during which his individual way of combining visual and acoustic aspects of art work has been acquiring new dimensions.

 

The first two exhibition halls are large and dramatically lit by the pale white light. Oversized paintings on the walls initially look like mere decoration. But when one stands between them, he understands why Grygar talks about linking sound, image and space. Milan Grygar’s intention is to evoke the idea that each two-dimensional or three-dimensional object must be set in a particular environment and must also evoke the idea of ​​a certain sound. It does not matter if the tones are real, or is created by our imagination. It is essential to connect all three components into a single percept.

Personal Opinion. This exhibition is a rather volumetric retrospective of Grygar that fully embodies the acoustic, visual and spatial components of his art, providing a dynamic motion from one hall to another, developing the concept of his abstract sound painting not through explanatory text, but through the dialogue between the works of art. It should be noted that Hana has shown some creative approach to the placement of works of art taking advantage of the great empty space of  the Municipal Library gallery: the exhibition has vital powers in it despite the fact that abstract art and minimalism may easily fall into static. The absence of explanatory text for the spectators who are new to modern and contemporary art is compensated by the aesthetic quality of Grygar’s works.

In a Skirt – Sometimes / Art of the 1990s at Golden Ring House

Location. A historical building dating back to the 15th century, located by the Old Town Square. Prague City Gallery was given use of and responsibility for the Golden Ring House in 1990. Both the wider and professional public can see not only exhibitions here but also attend a reading room on the 2nd floor, where they can in presentio research professional literature, an extensive range of exhibition catalogues and professional magazines related to the field of fine arts.

Curator. PhDr. Pavlína Morganová, Ph.D., a  Czech curator (since 2001) and lecturer(since 1997)

Artists.Veronika Bromová, Milena Dopitová, Lenka Klodová, Martina Klouzová-Niubó, Zdena Kolečková, Alena Kotzmannová, Markéta Othová, Míla Preslová, Elen Řádová, Štěpánka Šimlová, Kateřina Šedá, Michaela Thelenová, Markéta Vaňková, and Kateřina Vincourová

Until 1989, women were present on the Czech art scene more often than not as solitary figures, eclipsed by their male counterparts. In the course of the 1990s came a rapid succession of several generations of women artists asserting themselves. Their output brought in new subjects and a new visual aspect of art work, but also a previously unwitnessed enhancement of the status of women in the domestic art community.

The exhibition In a Skirt – Sometimes / Art of the 1990s is an attempt at a retrospective survey documenting the aforementioned shift in Czech art of the 1990s through select works by women artists.  It is accompanied by a publication documenting the participants´ output during the period from 1990 to the present day, and setting it within a broader sociological and, most notably, art-historical context.

Markéta Othová, Cesta 1995

 

Veronika Bromova, Pohledy, 1995

 

Míla Preslová, Jedna ku jedné, 1998b

 

Míla Preslová, Jedna ku jedné, 1998a

 

Martina Klouzová-Niubó, Zátiší, 1996

 

Personal Opinion. This collective exhibition certainly has a string effect on its viewers as it almost attacks with the variety of styles, forms and concepts behind the works, as well as the impulsive artistic personae of the female art scene of the 1990s. The artworks selected for this show are strong and thought-provoking, certainly different from male art, but also very disturbing (as anything that comes from the 1990s). Today some of these works appear to be too explicit in their need to prove something, but thinking back in time it is fare to say, someone had to claim the female part of the art. The amount of emotion and expression that some of these works have is almost unbearable and must have produced a shocking impression on the spectators back in the days. However, it would be nice to have these works positioned next to male artworks, as the isolated female show has a strange effect in the second decade of 2000: begs the question if the curator feels that women are still unrepresented in the Czech art scene or prefers female artists over male herself.

As far as the exhibition and its organization goes, I must say this one is broad and dispersed, starting from a narrow theme it bursts out into a labyrinth of personalities, each responding to an inner urge of expression or an outer environment. The art space of the Golden Ring House with the spiral staircases adds to the complexity of the topic and the overall frustration.

For a person who has never consciously experienced female art this exhibition is a must-see: you may hate it or love it, but you will sure remember it.

Miroslav Machotka – Site Events/retrospective at Leica Gallery

Location. Leica Gallery Prague is white  grey cube space with a charming cafe located in a quiet street within a walking distance from Mustek metro station,  it has been operating in the field of art since 2002 and is exclusively focusing on photography presentation. The original place of work of the gallery was the Supreme Burgrave’s House of the Prague Castle, where the gallery implemented a number of exhibitions by worldwide known photographers.

Curator. Eva Heyd — freelance photographer in Czech Republic and USA

Artist. He has been a photographer since 1970’s. At that time, he was a member of the Strahov Photo Club. During the 1980’s, he exhibited in and attended gatherings of photographers in Wroclaw’s Foto-Medium-Art Gallery. He is a member of the Prague House of Photography.
He works as a studio technician for Czech Television.

Miroslav Machotka is a distinctive figure of Czech photography, and his work reflects a truly unique, innovative approach to photographic expression. The black-and-white photographs presented here, made using the analog process, represent his work of the last forty years, yet the selection constitutes a whole: the individual photographs are united by an inner bond. Only by selecting the place, subject matter, light, and time, and visually linking elements of the photographed world, without any external or formal manipulation, Machotka shapes his shots much as an artist constructs an abstract painting. Each of his photographs is then an individual work, reflecting not only the appearance of urban civilization, but also resonating with his innermost feelings when encountering the everyday life, banality, and materialism of his environment. The viewers find themselves on the threshold of a very familiar world, which is first cast into doubt and then opened up again to their own imagination.

Personal Opinion. As a retrospective the exhibition follows a strict chronological order of the works presented and has a certain rhythm between the photographs that echoes the rhythm that is within them. As far as the abstract works of art are Machotka’s pieces are endlessly magnetic with the aesthetic beauty, one can walk in circles around the gallery and watch the photographs over and over again. Another quality of his work is that it seems to be timeless: if one was to try to date the works without knowing the timeframe it would be almost impossible to determine the year of the pictures. As much as they are timeless, they are young and breathing with air, surprisingly fresh for someone of Machotka’s age.

Dalibor Chatrný: Seeing The World Otherwise at Stone Bell House

Location. The Stone Bell House is situated in the center of Prague at the Old Town Square and dates back to the second half of the 13th century. The building has undergone several reconstructions and it was only in 1988 when the City of Prague assigned the house to the Prague City Gallery, which uses it as a space for its significant exhibition projects. The building also houses a bookstore offering a wide range of publications and catalogues, while the café is situated on the rear ground floor of the house.

Curator. Jiří Machalický — an established Czech curator, currently working as a full-time NoD gallery curator apart from freelance.

Artist. Dalibor Chatrný a prominent Czech artist, who worked in different movements (conceptual, minimalism, land art etc.) but never fully identified himself with any specific one.

About the exhibition. A retrospective of Dalibor Chatrný, laid out in several sections, each corresponding to a particular “circle” of the artist’s creative endeavour. From the mid-1960s, he came to draw on the potential offered by the graphic grid. Applying the method of perforation, he presented his own vision of natural processes. His projects dating from the early 1970s were focused on the various relations between artist and environment. Using strings and cords, he dealt with interconnections between elements, and he explored connotations between reality and shadow. He worked with the energy of magnets, as well as with the effect of reflection and mirror image. He found a medium for experimentation in the quality of colour. He drew and painted with both hands simultaneously. In the second half of the 1980s, he explored the method of dyeing and soaking textile fabrics. During the same period he also experimented with obstructed drawing. An extensive chapter of his oeuvre is constituted by compositions of textual elements.

 

 

Personal Opinion. Stone Bell Tower Gallery space may be very tricky as it has its own character that  strictly does not allow too much artistic freedom, it is certainly not a white cube and you are forced to follow its curves and watch the narrow arch doorways, but this retrospective has shown it all working together with a massive amount of diverse works of a single artist. As a retrospective it of course tries to achieve the a;most impossible — cover years and years of productive work of Chatrný, and in for a contemporary art show it has a surprisingly great mass of text explaining particular periods and styles sometimes going into extremes and describing what is right before your eyes, so the amount of information one receives is overwhelming. At the same time the placement is absolutely genius: narrow corridors with small sketches, intimate dark room with film, everything sectioned precisely to the works that are presented, chronological but not too much. I would say both the works and the organization of them are impressive and definitely deserve a visit. I cannot say for sure, by it seems that Chatrný himself who put so much thought into every single piece of art would be satisfied with this retrospective.

BAUGRUPPE ist super at Kvalitář Gallery

Location. The Kvalitář Gallery is a private medium size white cube space, located close to the city center, but away from the touristy crowds (all the addresses of the galleries are mentioned in the geoposition at the bottom of the entry).

The role of the gallery as it is constituted on their website is “to provide both expert and inexpert viewers with a selection of (in our opinion) the best work of the studios of well-renowned artists and art university students. It is our aim to offer art not only as an elite spectacle ripped off the contact with reality but as a very specific component of everyday life, a natural element of any residential, working or representational space.”

Curators. Helena Doudová, Marek Kopeć – both young Czech curators interested in contemporary art and architecture.

Artists. Berlin architects: BARarchitekten, fatkoehl Architekten, HEIDE & VON BECKERATH, ifau and Jesko Fezer, Kaden + Partner and zanderrotharchitekten

 With more than 3000 apartments and 200 houses constructed over the past ten years, Berlin is the European leader in terms of Baugruppe projects. The exhibition examines experimental projects that have developed new solutions and strategies under the condition of rising living costs and have been implemented on often difficult and sometimes seemingly unattractive sites for housing development companies. This model is also widely-spread in Freiburg (1900 apartments) or in Hamburg (more than 1600 apartments). The Project “R 50 – cohousing” was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2015.

What differentiates Baugruppe projects from ordinary homes is primarily the dialogue between the architect and the client (a group of mini-builders) during the design process – every project is unique and reflects the dynamics and the requirements of the group. A project can be initiated by an architect or the members of the group, the future inhabitants of the house, who buy a plot of land. After that the architect and the Baugruppe start organising common meetings to openly discuss the design of the building. When an agreement is reached, a residential structure is built. The Baugruppe members become owners of their individually adapted apartments. What is special about Baugruppe projects is the new kinds of neighbourhood relationships, shared spaces such as meeting rooms and shared terraces, and a number of sustainable design solutions. The project does not necessarily include constructing new housing; many projects are based on the renovation or conversion of existing buildings.

 

Personal Opinion. A great exhibition that fully meets the goal and shows how education, architecture and art can be combined to produce a meaningful and original show. I am not surprised that the exhibition got prolonged, for it has all it needs to be a success: location, texts, works of art, interactive element and is socially relevant on top of that. No doubt this show would be of a use to those directly involved in architecture, but it also works for common spectators providing a solution to the problem of housing in the European cities. It has a simple logic which follows its goals, it does not consume a lot of time if you are just wondering around, but you may spend hours there researching the projects.

JAROSLAV ŠTĚDRA, OBRAZY at Galerie Nová síň

Location.  Galerie Nová síň is a private medium size white cube gallery with one spacious hall and natural daylight; it is located between Národní Divadlo and Národní Třída in a small quiet street and has a long history, dating back to the end of 19th century, when it served as a studio, later transformed into a gallery in 1934.

Curator. PhDr. Terezie Zemánková, field of expertise – art brut

Artist. Jaroslav Štědra is a renown Czech artist, who has been true to his style throughout his career, specializing in abstract color fields and mastering the poetic approach to art:

“Jaroslav Štědra is precisely the type of artist who does not succumb to these pressures, while displaying these very esthetic and philosophical qualities. He communicates them through his work. He has mastered the strength of testimony of all the senses.

His painting, almost pedantic in its wonderfully soft approach to endless nuances, has created a supernatural world, warranted by the natural one. The colour, the surface subordinated to an original composition and plan informs us or rather tells us with supernatural feeling about the perspective of the world in the transcendental position of its meaning.“

Dimitrij Kadrnožka (Štědra’s fellow Czech artist)

The central topic of Štědra’s work is space and light, that is based on a concrete place or environment or some sort of mental space and the light of thought, connected to the sensory impression of volume, sound and smell of a particular moment.

Personal opinion. The second half of the 20th century has provided the world with a great number of abstract artists and one may feel rather lost facing more and more color fields, but I have to pay my respect to  Štědra as someone who felt dedicated to his vision and style working in communist Czechoslovakia. At the same time his works remind me of the undefined shapes and colors of the room as I wake up and everything is out of focus for a brief moment, as well as other senses are not fully awake, this turbid and cloudy image is hard to chase and remember, it is ephemeral but worth trying to be chased.

Exhibition-wise I would not say that the show has any specialty, it is a white room with paintings on the walls at a regular hight without any type of lively dynamic. It is calm and simple, no overpowering text, no secret, you get the full impression of it as you enter.

photos by Matyáš Fára

More of artist’s works can be found in his online gallery.

 

María Elínardóttir – God Bless Iceland at Velryba

Prague’s art scene is truly unique as it combines big institutions, private galleries and tiny art spaces in cafe’s and clubs. This post will be about a type of exhibition that is very common in Prague among emerging artists, which is a small solo show in a cafe cellar (solo-cellar-show, as I am going to call these from now on).

Location. The art space of the show is located in cafe Velryba (a “whale” in English), this cafe is situated between Národní Divadlo and Národní Třída, close to the city, but off the usual touristy crowd trails. Opposed to the big and neutral white cube spaces a cafe cellar imposes individuality and intimacy upon the exhibition, it makes the curator work within the given architecture and rarely allows any modification. Velryba’s caller is a small dark red brick space not more than 30 m2 with unusually high ceiling and a couple of supporting columns that divide the space vertically.

Curator. No particular curator was mentioned, I assume the curating was held out by FAMU and the artist herself.

Artist. María Elínardóttir is an Icelandic artist born in Reykjavík. For the past seven years her works have bridged together everything from documentary to social illustration using the medium of photography and literature. After graduating with BcA of photography from FAMU in Prague, 2013 she is currently working on completing her Masters degree of photography in 2015. In recent years she has exhibited her work in numerous group exhibitions around the world, including Iceland, Czech Republic, China and Slovenia.

If you are interested to see some of the works, here is the tumblr: http://mariaelinardottir.tumblr.com

Personal Opinion. The exhibition had a pineapple sized piece of vulcanite  (or something resembling lava) and about 6 collages that had photographic sights if Iceland transformed into dark and cold surreal spaces, that are somehow connected to the volcanic land that the country stands on. Unfortunately there was no introductory text, so I assume the concept is connected to the stereotypes about Iceland and limited knowledge about its culture and history (ask yourself what do you know about this mysterious place, not much right?). I can only speculate whether the space was chosen deliberately to emphasize the mystery and alienation of Iceland or not, but a hidden cellar in the back of the cafe was a nice touch.

p.s I feel bad about not taking any pictures myself, the one above is the only provided by the official page of the exhibition.

MODEL at Prague Rudolfinum

As this blog has a goal to create a personal art map, it seems logical to start by answering the question of where are we going and develop with the event description.

Location. The first place that will be introduced within this blog is Prague Rudolfinum, which is a great Neo-Renaissence building in the city center dating back to the 1884 that has a concert hall of Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and a Galerie Rudolfinum under its roof. According to the official website:

“the programming is devoted to contemporary fine art with occasional glimpses of the past. An exclusive focus on exhibitions (the gallery does not have its own collections) and cooperation in the international context shapes Galerie Rudolfinum into an open communication environment, and other activities within exhibition projects contribute to this: issuing of catalogs and publications, organizing lectures, seminars and numerous accompanying programs, as well as music and film festivals. Educational work and lectures are also some of the other important components.”

Due to tis own and very specific architecture the gallery suggests linear composition of the exhibition, which is hard to be avoided, which makes it a great place for medium-sized retrospectives, but limits the possibility of hosting large scale installations or artworks that require white cube environment.

Rudolfinum Hall

Exhibition. MODEL is a collective show curated by an established Czech curator Ladislav Kesner; the exhibition opens up a broad topic of models in art and presents cases of different approach to the variety of  concepts behind the term:

“The exhibition presents a selection of contemporary authors, including some of the internationally most acclaimed artists who in their work explore the phenomenon of models and modelling – either constructing 3D models, or using models to create paintings, photographs and videos. By bringing together a range of art works in different media, scale and artistic approaches, the exhibition aims to open a space of reflection on the enigmatic concept of model and modelling. It will specifically address two issues. First, how do we understand and define “model” in relation to image, object and sculpture? Second, it will highlight the complex and multifaceted relationship between model and some form of tangible or imagined reality, the ways models negotiate the distance from/to some precedent or original, or how some of them they assume a form of hyperreal simulacra. It will thus open a space of reflections on the way in which artistic intervention manages to establish the effect of the real, while often simultaneously subverting it. At the same time, through the range of artistic positions included, the exhibition will present the diverse roles and uses models in artistic practice can assume: from a memory tool, cognitive instrument, self-sustained artistic object to an instrument of social argumentation and discourse, or just a toy.” 

Artists featured: Thomas Demand, Lorenz Estermann, Antony Gormley, Mariele Neudecker, Julian Opie, Jaroslav Róna, Tom Sachs, Pavla Sceranková, Thomas Schütte, Rachel Whiteread, Edwin Zwakman.

Rachel Whiteread, Focus, 2008, © Rachel Whiteread. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

Lorenz Estermann, PLOT-house, 2014, courtesy of bechter kastowsky galerie, Vienna, © Lorenz Estermann 2013

Thomas Schütte, One Man House II, 2006, © Collection of the artist

Mariele Neudecker, There Is Always Something More Important, 2012, © Mariele Neudecker. Courtesy Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin

Personal Opinion. For someone who is not familiar with contemporary art this show provides a great opportunity to discover the world of endless interpretation with an accurate narration of provided texts, making it easier to understand the concepts of the works as well as the logic of the exhibition itself. The texts take you from one artist to another, answering the questions that a spectator may have when facing works of art that seem very similar or very unrelated to the topic. The exhibition dictates you the thoughts and impressions, but it certainly makes you think and feel something yet unexperienced.

What stands out apart from the classic didactic of text is the diversity of the works presented: from the familiar architectural models, to concepts of perfect living space and models of the emotional human state — needless to say anyone may find something to their liking within the presented range of concepts and works.

This exhibition is an example of an original idea being brought into a very classical environment and weaved it in perfectly with style and high taste.