B?la Kolá?ová
31 January to 7 April 2013
Raven Row presents the first posthumous retrospective of the work of Czech artist B?la Kolá?ová (1923–2010). The show was both the first solo exhibition of the artist in the UK and the first major survey of her work outside the Czech Republic.
From her trademark ‘artificial negatives’, ‘light drawings’ and ‘derealised portraits’ to her assemblages and collages, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová pioneered an art based on intimate objects often associated with domesticity and the feminine. The works on display will span KoláÅ™ová’s career to include documentary photographs from the late fifties, camera-less experiments, ‘arranged photographs’ of objects and hair and assemblages from the sixties, as well as make-up drawings and assemblages from the seventies and eighties.
While rooted in the context of the Cold War and exile, B?la Kolá?ová’s practice is also closely linked to the life of her husband, the influential artist and poet JiÅ™í KoláÅ™, whose work overshadowed her own until its recent rediscovery. Despite the difficulties of exhibiting in her own country, she was able to develop a unique body of work, both formally and conceptually. As this exhibition will demonstrate, its legacy to the history of art – on both sides of the Iron Curtain – is anything but modest, unlike its materials and its author’s personality.
An accompanying catalogue published by Raven Row includes new essays by Prague-based writer and curator Karel CísaÅ™ and Matthew S. Witkovsky, Chair and Curator of the Department of Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as an edited conversation between Alice Motard and Czech art historian Marie Klimešová, who organised the most complete exhibition of the artist’s work to date at Olomouc Museum of Art in the Czech Republic in 2006.
The exhibition is curated by Marie Klimešová and Alice Motard.
B?la Kolá?ová (born 1923, Terezín, former Czechoslovakia, died 2010, Prague). In 1980, during the era of ‘Normalisation’, BÄ›la and her husband JiÅ™í KoláÅ™ left Czechoslovakia and lived in Paris before moving back to Prague in 1999. B?la Kolá?ová’s work can be found in a number of private and public collections, among which the National Gallery and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the Olomouc Museum of Art, and the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris. Since it was shown at documenta 12 in Kassel in 2007, her work has been included in group exhibitions in Vienna, Paris, London, Schwaz (Austria) and Cologne.
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
From left to right:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Stránka z Ovidia [Page from Ovid], 1964
Boucles de cheveux [Hair Locks], 1964
Vlasy [Hair], 1964
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Rüdiger Schöttle
and the Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Foreground:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Bez názvu [Untitled] from the series ‘Dishes’, 1966
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
From left to right:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Rébus [Riddle], 1964
Automat na polykání penÄ›z [Vending Machine for Eating Money], 1966
Photograph by Eva Herzog
The North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Art in Litoměřice and the Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Foreground:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Bez názvu [Untitled] from the series ‘Dishes’, 1966
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Detail:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Bez názvu [Untitled] from the series ‘Dishes’, 1966
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Foreground:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Bez názvu [Untitled] from the series ‘Dishes’, 1966
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Vzorník kosmetiky [Swatch of Cosmetics], 1966
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Olomouc Museum of Art
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Foreground:
Pozitiv-negativ [Positive-Negative], 1965
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Left to right:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Žiletka I [Razor Blade I], 1969
Kdybychom mohly vyprávÄ›t [If We Could Talk], 1969
Marie a Eva [Mary and Eve], 1975
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Private collection, Prague, the Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová and Nadace DrAK Dr. Altenburg Kohl
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Šestiobraz [Six Images], 1981
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Michal Mánek collection, Prague
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Left to right:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Smotky hnÄ›dých vlasů [Tufts of Brown Hair], 1980
Snová krajina [Dream Landscape], 1980
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Left:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Mezi PaÅ™íží a Prahou [Between Paris and Prague], 1990–2009
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Untitled photographs from the series ‘Children’s Games’, 1957
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Mezi PaÅ™íží a Prahou [Between Paris and Prague], 1990–2009
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Foreground:
Display table with ‘artificial negatives’ from the series ‘Cut-outs’, ‘Traces’ and ‘Vegetages’, 1961
Background:
Bez názvu [Untitled], undated (1970s)
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Bez názvu [Untitled], undated (1970s)
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
‘Artificial negatives’ from the series ‘Cut-outs’,
‘Traces’ and ‘Vegetages’, 1961
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
‘Artificial negative’, 1961
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Foreground:
Display table with ‘artificial negatives’ from the series ‘Cut-outs’, ‘Traces’ and ‘Vegetages’, 1961
Background:
ÄŒerné sirky [Black Matches] from the series 'Traces', 1961. Photogram; print from 'artificial negative'.
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Private collection and Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Folder containing 'artificial negatives' and their resulting prints
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Photograms from the series ‘Traces’ and ‘Vegetages’,
1961
Prints from ‘artificial negatives’
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Slalom, 1985
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Private collection, Prague
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Jewellery prototypes, 1968
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Belt prototype, 1968
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Left to right:
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Vzorník pro Didonu [Swatch for Dido], 1964
Vzorník pro Kleopatru [Swatch for Cleopatra], 1964
Útek pro Penelopu [Weft for Penelope], 1964/1990s
The North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Art in Litoměřice,and private collection, Prague
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Pocta Ueckerovi [Homage to Uecker], 1968–69/2004
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Untitled ‘arranged photographs’ with configurations
of domestic and organic objects, undated (1963–64)
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Exhibition view, BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová, Raven Row, 2013
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Make-up drawings, 1976–86
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Olomouc Museum of Art and the Estate of BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
BÄ›la KoláÅ™ová
Make-up drawings, 1976–86
Foreground:
Dnes a denně semafory rtů [Day after Day, Semaphors of Lips], 1979
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Olomouc Museum of Art