Cz

If I Were as Beautiful as Dionysos

15. 06. – 29. 09. 2024

If I Were as Beautiful as Dionysos

An Encounter with Jan Zrzavý

15. 06. – 29. 09. 2024

Curators: Miloš Doležal & Martin Herold

Artists: Jan Zrzavý & Jiří Bašta, Dominik Běhal, Václav Boštík, Josef Čapek, Dominika Dobiášová, Mary Durasová, Igor Hosnedl, Giorgio de Chirico, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Jiří John, Zsófia Keresztes, Šárka Koudelová, Bohumil Kubišta, Jan Merta, Ivan Meštrović, Otakar Mrkvička, Odilon Redon, Miroslava Večeřová / Architects: O+M Studio (Ondřej Čech a Monika Matějková)

The painter Jan Zrzavý was one of the national classics, whose artistic language helped to name, both intuitively and consciously (in times of national danger), the identity of Czech culture. Author of frequently reproduced South Bohemian and Vysočina landscapes, illustrator of Erben’s Bouquet and Mácha’s May, set designer of Libuše and The Devil’s Wall. And yet this painter, whose work was exhibited many times and who did not go through any art school, often fled from Bohemia to Italy and France in search of Gothic and Renaissance, light and sea, fearing his native Vysočina. He used to be a loner in the midst of a crowd of admirers and carried the sting of otherness in him since childhood. He wrestled with his body and his homosexual orientation, seeking ways out of his curse and finding them in the art and spiritual worlds.

We invited not only those who worked in contemporary circles related to Zrzavý, but also contemporary artists who are influenced by Zrzavý’s work, work on similar themes and ask similarly pressing questions. We have selected from a wide range of artists – Zrzavý’s fluidity remains strong and inspiring to this day.

IN MARGINE

02. 03. – 19. 05. 2024

IN MARGINE

Frame, Plinth, Vitrine

02. 03. – 19. 05. 2024

Curator: Emma Hanzlíková

Artists: Ádám Albert, Néphéli Barbas, Jana Bernartová, František Bílek, Constantin Brâncuși, Martin Herold, Klára Hosnedlová, Július Koller, Stanislav Kolíbal, Alžběta Krňanská, Alena Kučerová, Piero Manzoni, Zbyněk Sekal, Josef Sudek, Jan Svoboda, Miroslav Tichý, Josef Váchal, Edmund de Waal, Erwin Wurm

Artistic mounting, meaning the act of preparing a work of art for exhibiting by the artist him- or herself, is a subject that is usually on the margins of the viewer’s interest, and one that has been similarly marginalized by art historians. IN MARGINE explores precisely this subject, the artistic preparation of frames, plinths, and vitrines, for today we can speak of a certain romantic renaissance in the use of expressive tools by which the artist pulls the viewer into the world within the frame, much like magic portals capable of teleporting people to other dimensions. For some artists, the creative process does not end with a stretcher frame, a sculpture placed on a universal plinth, or an object enclosed within a sterile, uniform vitrine like under a glass jar. Nevertheless, such artists capable of moving beyond predefined zones often exist on the margins of the artistic community. Their thorough and frequently obsessive and sensual way of working with mounting reflects their search for a comprehensive approach in the sense of total art. But there also exists a conceptual position involving literal invisibility in which the artist plays with the semantics of mounting.

Working with works of art borrowed from art institutions and private collections in the Czech Republic and abroad, the exhibition IN MARGINE: Frame, Plinth, Vitrine presents works by contemporary artists alongside pieces by living and non-living artists, made primarily in the second half of the twentieth century. In addition, there are several timeless iconic works from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that are again relevant today. Thanks to increased interest among the youngest generation of artists, the original and often manual mounting of art has become a subject of discussion and a contemporary phenomenon that practically calls on us to take a look back at the recent past.

Volt-Age

11. 11. – 11. 02. 2024

Volt-Age

11. 11. – 11. 02. 2024

Artists: Authors: František Daněk, Kryštof Doležal, Josef Frühauf, Milan Guštar, Krištof Kintera, Kamil Machyán, Lukáš Procházka, Richard Wiesner

Our world is an electric world. It is hard to imagine it without the ubiquitous, yet almost invisible and inaudible electricity. It is mysterious, indispensable, deadly and vital, and it is becoming intelligent.

The exhibition Volt-Age brings together several artists who are close to each other not only because they have long collaborated on many projects and share a common studio space, but are also connected by the phenomenon of electricity itself, which permeates the themes of their work.

A key role in the Volt-Age project is played by the encounter and collaboration with two unique characters who are tied to Humpolec and are involved in the maintenance and installation of the high-voltage grid, which is their profession as well as passion. Both have dedicated their lives to electricity, voltage, and its safe distribution to our homes. Kamil Machyán, a local electrician, obsessed with collecting high voltage insulators since childhood and František Daněk, the principal and founder of the colossal Museum of Insulators and Lightning Arresters near Obratan. The maniacal obsession of both enigmatic collectors, their admirable diligence and erudition became a major inspiration for this exhibition.

NOTHING IS A PROBLEM

17. 06. – 01. 10. 2023

NOTHING IS A PROBLEM

17. 06. – 01. 10. 2023

Authors: David Böhm, Vladimir 518, Jiří Franta

Two negative words in the saying NOTHING IS A PROBLEM, which people paradoxically use to create an atmosphere of carefreeness. Three artists working together on one drawing. Three days a week of intense work, without much distance. Three weeks of work in the flats of the inhabitants of Humpolec. Three rooms with lightboxes, filled with views of other people’s interiors. Three heads. Three brushes. Sixteen drawings.

Sites of Reverberation

04. 03. – 21. 05. 2023

Sites of Reverberation

Sound as a Medium

04. 03. – 21. 05. 2023

Curators: Jakub Frank & Anežka Chalupová

Artists: Katarzyna Krakowiak‑Bałka, Gerard Lebik, Hannes Hoelzl, Martyna Poznańska, Magdaléna Manderlová, Christian Schröder / Architecture: Matěj Frank

Through the installation works of six artists from Poland, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic this exhibition explores the ability of sound to alter our environment, transform, effect and shape our space, feelings and attitudes within it. Though an array of materials and architectural interventions the exhibition positions the viewer into a series of acoustic situations. Sound spreads out around us in all directions, intertwining, returning, rebounding, diluting and thickening. In this way sound is no longer something to be merely heard, but becomes a thing in itself. Thanks to its purity, character and volume it becomes a powerful means of expression, a subjective testimony to the current state of the world.

SOLO: Jakub Roztočil

12. 11. – 22. 01. 2023

SOLO: Jakub Roztočil

12. 11. – 22. 01. 2023

Curator: Helena Musilová

The first ever solo exhibition in 8smička, which marks the opening of the new SOLO series, presents Jakub Roztočil, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In his work, he experiments with matter and sound, an essential element in the creation of his artworks, as well as the principle of randomness and error entering into the staged process of creation. Most of his artworks are created with the help of an ingenious device without the touch of a human hand. In addition to the paintings and sculptures in the gallery space, the exhibition will also include the premiere of a site-specific installation created by the artist specifically for 8smička.

I Walk Through Solitude of Dust with Glimpses of Gardens

Reynek in Dialogue

25. 06. – 25. 09. 2022

Curators: Martin Herold & Miloš Doležal

Artists: Balthus, Josef Bolf, Alén Diviš, Li Kche-žan, Alfred Kubin, Alena Kučerová, Matouš Lipus, Victor Man, Věra Nováková, Silke Otto-Knapp, Bohuslav Reynek, Ivan Sobotka, Béla Tarr / Architecture: O+M STUDIO Ondřej Čech & Monika Matějková

Our return to the work of Bohuslav Reynek (graphic artist-poet-translator) is quoted by two basic tones of his work and his experience of the world – anxiety and tenderness. We attempt to extend our views of Reynek’s graphic and drawing work, its existential distress and compassionate touches, with insights, dialogues and encounters with several related artists – ranging from generational comrades to contemporary artists. Even in his lifetime, Bohuslav Reynek was no withdrawn loner, but an important contemporary who was connected to current French, German and Austrian cultures.  In our exhibition, Bohuslav Reynek is joined by twelve artists from different parts of the world – France, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, China and, of course, the Czech Republic. Each with their own unique artistic tone. For the first time in the Czech Republic, thanks to Reynek, we can meet with the works by Balthus or Silke Otto-Knapp.

Through You I See Myself

12. 02. – 15. 05. 2022

Through You I See Myself

Dialogues On Portrait

12. 02. – 15. 05. 2022

Curated by: Anežka Kořínková & Kateřina Sýsová

Artists: Pavel Baňka, Veronika Bromová, Jakub Delibalta, Iryna Drahun, František Fekete, Pavel Hečko, Julie Hrnčířová, Salim Issa, JaCobra, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Alena Kotzmannová, Pavel Mára, Adéla Matasová, Jan Matýsek, Martin Odehnal, Dita Pepe, Ivan Pinkava, Štěpánka Stein, Václav Stratil, Jiří Thýn, Marie Tomanová, Martin Wágner. / Architect: Jana Preková / technical cooperation: Anna Křížová / exhibition production: Ondřej Čech

The exhibition is searching for photographic portrait in contemporary art, while perceiving man as a leitmotif, which becomes the main link between analog (film), digital and algorithmic photography. Against this background it reveals how the way we look at ourselves and others has changed over the last three decades. Is image and body a separate duality, or do they merge into one? Can I see myself through you? The exhibition seeks answers to these questions in the form of intergenerational dialogues between the represented authors. Artists of different generations approach the photographic perspective in different ways and thus represent the dynamic environment in which photography has found itself over the last three decades.

Hand at the End of an Arm

29. 05. – 02. 01. 2022

Hand at the End of an Arm

Czech and Slovak P(Art)icipatory Projects

29. 05. – 02. 01. 2022

Curated by: Ondřej Horák & Anežka Chalupová

Artists: Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, Vladimír Boudník, Mária Bartuszová, Gabriel Kladek, Július Koller, Dezider Tóth, Milena Dopitová, Keiko Sei, Kateřina Šedá, Daniela Krajčová, Oto Hudec, Tomáš Rafa, Jiří Franta & David Böhm, Eva Jiřička, EPOS 257, Ondřej Brody & Kristofer Paetau, Hynek Alt, Jesper Alvaer, Isabela Grosseová, Aleš Čermák, Rafani, Petr Philippov, Larisa Gladysh, Adam Vačkář, Matěj Smetana, Martin Kohout, Pavel Sterec, Michal Pěchouček, Matyáš Chochola, Ľudmila Horňáková and participants in mutual cooperation. / Architect: Richard Loskot

The eighth exhibition at 8smička focuses on artistic cooperation between Czech and Slovak artists and various social groups, realized outside traditional exhibition spaces. It presents a comprehensive overview of the form and history of this type of collaboration from the middle of the 20th century to the present. The authors of the works exhibited here focused on projects that didn’t begin with the primary aim of creating a work of art. The purpose of their effort was to involve a selected social group in the process of equal artistic cooperation and at the same time to offer participants in this process a different way of understanding the challenges they regularly face. The exhibition features not only specific projects, but also the stories behind the work these artists created together with people living in socially excluded localities, seniors, the homeless, the disabled, children and students or various communities.

Many a Family

10. 10. – 25. 04. 2021

Many a Family

Jirous, Padrta, Ságl

10. 10. – 25. 04. 2021

Curated by: Lenka Dolanová, Marianna Placáková, Marika Svobodová

Artists: Ivan Martin Jirous, Juliana Jirousová, Věra Jirousová, Jiří Padrta, Ludmila Padrtová, Jan Ságl, Zorka Ságlová / Architects: Monika Cihlářová & Iveta Čermáková (Schwestern)

The exhibition links the artistic, theoretical and poetic work of seven personalities from “one family”, whose roots go partly to the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, but also to southern Bohemia. It focuses mainly on the period from the mid-1950s to late 1970s, when the participants met most intensively and inspired each other. The connections between individual family members are multi-layered and often surprising. The exhibition is conceived as a network of contexts, allowing visitors to progress from key visual and audio points to greater depth. It offers encounters with artistic work ranging from poetry, music recordings, through photographs to abstract painting and the presentation of archival materials.

Time Out of Mind Mind Out of Time

07. 03. – 20. 09. 2020

Time Out of Mind Mind Out of Time

Glass

07. 03. – 20. 09. 2020

Curated by Kamila Huptychová & Adam Tureček

Artists: Jakub Berdych Karpelis, Jiří Brabec, Jaroslava Brychtová, Václav Cigler, Jiří Černický, Jan Formáček & Jiří Přibyl, Klára Horáčková, Lukáš Houdek, Martin Janecký, Anna Jožová, Vladimír Kopecký, Stanislav Libenský, Michal Machat, Petr Mikošek, Lukáš Novák, Rony Plesl, Kristýna Venturová, Miluše Roubíčková, René Roubíček, Matouš Řeřicha, Michaela Spružinová, Petr Stanický, Vratislav Šotola, Marieta Tedenacová, Maxim Velčovský, XYZ (Dominik Jančík, Marek Šilpoch, Oliver Torr), Dana Zámečníková and others… Architect: Adam Tureček

The exhibition is based on the assumption that both free and applied art is not only a mirror of the artist’s soul but is also shaped by a number of cultural and social influences and circumstances. The aim is not to present a comprehensive development of glassmaking, nor to show a plethora of glass processing techniques or admire the beauty and unique properties of this material. The visitor may encounter at the exhibition free, functional, historical and contemporary glass from both established and emerging artists. The main selection criterion is the exhibits’ ability to interpret and illustrate more general topics related to the history and development of glassmaking.

Retina

19. 10. – 16. 02. 2020

Retina

Possibilities of Painting (1989–2019)

19. 10. – 16. 02. 2020

Curated by Dušan Brozman & Emma Hanzlíková

Artists: Peter Bartoš, Andrej Bělocvětov, Václav Boštík, Michaela Černická, Jiří Černický, Filip Dvořák, Stano Filko, Martin Gerboc, Milan Grygar, Štepán Grygar, Vladimír Hanuš, Vladimír Havrilla, Bohdan Hostiňák, Milan Houser, Alžběta Josefy, KW, Miroslav Machotka, Martin Mainer, Marek Meduna, Jan Merta, Jakub Nepraš, Alice Nikitinová, Jaromír Novotný, Petr Pelzmann, Ivan Pinkava, Daniel Pitín, Viktor Pivovarov, Tomáš Ruller, Vladimír Skrepl, Jiří Sopko, Jiří Středa, Jitka Svobodová, Robert Šalanda, Adam Štech, Emöke Vargová, Vladimír Véla / Architect: Tomáš Džadoň

The exhibition traces the possibilities of Czechoslovak classical painting of the last 30 years. It focuses on the sensory perception of specific phenomena in painting, such as colours, shapes, light or the author’s style. Marcel Duchamp used the term “Retina art” derogatively for works focusing merely o the optical impression. The exhibition accentuates the visual nature of the painting, which is equivalent to the ideological component of the work. It may be seen as a way of traditional reading of contemporary painting, or contemporary reading of traditional painting.

Molds, Hills and Highlands

08. 06. – 29. 09. 2019

Molds, Hills and Highlands

The Loners of Vysocina

08. 06. – 29. 09. 2019

Curated by Miloš Doležal & Emma Hanzlíková, Dan Merta

Artists: Jiří Bašta, Stanislav Hynek Doležal, Luboš Drtina Marie Galimberti-Provázková, Jiří John, Čestmír Kafka, Jaroslav Panuška, Bohumír Prokůpek, Jindřich Prucha, Jiří Příhoda, Bohuslav Reynek, Jaroslav Rössler, Jan Zrzavý / Temporary artistic interventions in the ladscape: Stanislav Abrahám, Josef Čančík, Jan Šerých / Architect: Jiří Příhoda

Vysocina is a wrinkled, rugged region, constricted by distress, squeezed between Bohemia and Moravia. In these melancholic regions we often encounter individuals for whom the return to birthplace or abandonment of civilisation has become the only possible way of existence. Rough Vysocina is characterised by shutting oneself into the inner world and the search for inner solitude and spiritual sources. The inspirational tradition that one may draw upon and learn from was defined by outsiders who gradually become essential figures of our cultural history – Josef Florian, Jakub Deml, Bohuslav Reynek or Ivan Martin Jirous. Artists linked by the foggy highlands share radical separation from cultural centres and opposition to the contemporary regime. In the depths of this mysterious region, we may find hiding contemplative solitaires with creative spirits, poets and painters, musicians and architects, whose work, bearing blurred motives of existential distress, should not remain forgotten. ​

The exhibition is enhanced by three interventions, in which two contemporary artists and one architect temporarily (until the end of summer) enliven three locations in the surrounding landscape. They take inspiration from two late geniuses from Vysocina (G. Mahler and B. Reynek) and in one case from architecture (Melechov). The forested hummock where our pagan ancestors used to hold their feasts (Josef Čančík @Melechov). The bank of a brook where sheep used to feed (Jan Šerých @ Petrkov). The courtyard of a former coaching inn (Stanislav Abrahám @ Pension Mahler, Kaliště).

Kuna nese nanuk

09. 02. – 12. 05. 2019

Kuna nese nanuk

The Art of Reading Art

09. 02. – 12. 05. 2019

Curated by Emma Hanzlíková

Artists: Milan Adamčiak, Pavel Büchler, Dalibor Chatrný, Bohumila Grögerová, Milan Grygar, Josef Hiršal, Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová, Július Koller, Viktor Kopasz, Jakub Kovařík, Radoslav Kratina, Jan Kubíček, Ján Mančuška, Štěpán Marko, Milča Mayerová, Monogramista T.D, Vítězslav Nezval, Ladislav Novák, Eduard Ovčáček, Marian Palla, Otto Pilip, Matěj Polách, Rafani, Vojtěch Říha, Jiří Skála, Zdeněk Sklenář, Václav Stratil, Tomáš Svoboda, Jan Šerých, Karel Teige, Timo, Karel Trinkewitz, Miloš Urbásek, Andrea Vacovská, Jiří Valoch, Lenka Vítková, Dušan Zahoranský

The exhibition is based on the interwar avantgarde tradition and 1960s Lettrism art. The alphabet, as  a set of basic building stones of our language, serves self-expression. Literary and visual artists play with letters and explore the limits between word and image, or use the script to amplify the visual effect. The letter, as a sign, and simultaneously often also an aesthetic geometric symbol, plays an important role also in the current digitised world, where focusing just on text and not observing only visual navigation through images or photographs is becoming increasingly difficult.

Two Heads, Four Hands

13. 09. – 13. 01. 2019

Two Heads, Four Hands

Artistic Duos at Work

13. 09. – 13. 01. 2019

Curated by Emma Hanzlíková

Artists: Julia Gryboś & Barbora Zentková, Anetta Mona Chişa & Lucia Tkáčová (CHITKA), Jarmila Mitríková & Dávid Demjanovič, Aleksandra Vajd & Hynek Alt, Steina Vasulka & Woody Vasulka, Jaroslava Brychtová & Stanislav Libenský, Vasil Artamonov & Alexey Klyuykov, David Böhm & Jiří Franta, Ondřej Brody & Kristofer Paetau, Lukáš Jasanský & Martin Polák, Milan Mikuláštík & Jan Nálevka (MINA) Concept: David Böhm & Jiří Franta

There are a several creative pairs of artists who present themselves as one entity. Each piece of their work is a symbiosis of a mutual cooperation. Only with the arrival of the avant-garde the phenomenon of artistic cooperatives starts occurring systematically.  A variety of collective signatures of art associations, groups and couples alongside individual artist push the borderline of authorship. The exhibition Two Heads, Four Hands introduces works of art of a several artistic duos who worked in Czechoslovakia, even though in some cases one person of the couple was a foreigner.

The interconnecting points of the duos are based on pair symmetry, mirror reflection, optical illusion, on the ability to dialogue and on the identity game and irony.  Although a functioning within a couple is primarily a natural principal, in the world of art it is more of a rarity.

Homage to Broadcloth

19. 04. – 12. 08. 2018

Homage to Broadcloth

Textiles in the Context of Art

19. 04. – 12. 08. 2018

Curated by Emma Hanzlíková and Markéta Vinglerová

Artists: Dalibor Bača, Věra Boudníková Špánová, Eva Brázdová, Pavel Brázda, Radek Brousil, Tereza Bušková, Veronika Carbová, Jiří Černický, Milena Dopitová, František Drtikol, Aneta Dvořáková, Barbora Fastrová, Jaroslava Frajová, Richard Fremund, Jaromír Funke, Emilie Frydecká, Věra Gabrielová, Josef Hampl, Helena Hladilová, Eliška Hlavačková, Adam Holý, Marie Horneková, Klára Hosnedlová, Vendula Chalánková, Ludmila Kaprasová, Olga Karlíková, Svatopluk Klimeš, Milan Knížák, Jindřich Koch, Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová, Brigita Kolčavová Sirková, Stanislav Kolíbal, Július Koller, Jiří Kovanda, Markéta Kratochvílová, Alžběta Krňanská, Svatoslav Krotký, Antonín Kybal, Viktorie Langer, Ondřej Louda, Adéla Matasová, František Matoušek, Bohdan Mrázek, Karíma Al-Mukhtarová, Josef Muller, Kamila Musilová, Jan Nálevka, Markéta Othová, Michal Pěchouček, Dagmar Piorecká, Johana Pošová, Ondřej Přibyl, Rafani, Julius Reichel, Viktória Remiarová, Božena Rothmayerová, Renata Rozsívalová, Zorka Ságlová, Sráč Sam, Lucia Sceranková, Pavla Sceranková, Rudolf Schlattauer, Helena Skočdopolová, František Skála, Matěj Smetana, Adam Stanko, Irene Stehli, Jan Steklík, Josef Sudek, Ladislav Sutnar, Zuzana Ševčíková, Adriena Šimotová, Alena Šišková, Jana Špánková, Roman Štětina, Marie Teinitzerová, Nik Timková, Jiří Thýn, Lenka Vacková, Jiří Valoch, Dan Vlček, Vlastimil Vodák, Martin Zet

Exhibitions dedicated to the art of textile revealed within a wider context, are rare in the Czech Republic. The textile medium has long been seen as a solely female domain and most often it has been linked with the work of local female artists. However, many other artists make use of textile as a medium for their creative expression. While for some artists working with cloth presents a challenge and enrichment of their work, for others it is but a routine. 8smička’s inaugurating exhibition shows some of the most considerable works of art created in the period starting at the beginning of the 20th century up until now. The exhibition introduces an overview of art from across generations aiming at impairing a stereotypical perception of textiles belonging merely to the field of applied arts. At the same time it is highlighting a recent tendency of increased interest in this medium as it also proposes its multilayered character in unconventional ways of interpretation. Moreover, it is an homage to the broadcloth made in Humpolec as much as to all the artists concerned with textiles who had been marginalised and missed out for a lengthy period of time. The exhibition is accompanied by guided tours given by curators, with Saturday craft workshops and further events.