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.
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