Great Expectations
10. 11. 2021 - 24. 04. 2022
Gallery: DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Town: Prague
Country: Czech republic
The exhibition Great Expectations, The Child in Contemporary Czech Art is
a loose continuation in the so-called pandemic trilogy, which began with
the project Vanitas in Contemporary Czech Art (DOX, 2020–2021). This is also
a group exhibition that presents a wide range of artists of different generations
and artistic expressions. After the theme of death, dying and impermanence,
this time the project focuses on the theme of birth and the beginning of life,
a period that is full of twists and turns and expectations, seeming innocence,
but also cruelty. Images of childhood change with age and are subject to forgetting;
it is an idealized time. In modern society, from the 19th century onwards,
the role of the child begins to change more rapidly; childhood becomesa subject
to be studied and addressed, that is, managed and controlled. The child is not
only an object of scientific research, but also a powerful business. In the history
of art, the child has appeared from time immemorial, and has always been
an important part of the spiritual history of humanity. The genealogy of the subject
is voluminous and has undergone interesting developments. The motif of the child
is also abundantly present in contemporary art, perhaps even more so than in earlier
times. However, visions and images of childhood are often not favorable, they do not
represent a radiant idyll, but melancholy prevails with all its mysteries and anxieties.
Naturalism is replaced by caricature, exaggeration, and in some cases, childishness
becomes almost monstrous. The child can also be a symbol or allegory and can
represent more general themes and issues. The exhibition follows only a certain
section of the theme of the child and childhood, its earliest stage from birth to adolescence.
Thus, it deliberately does not deal, for example, with the themes of puberty or parenthood,
which are specific and broad enough in themselves.
The exhibition presents the work of nearly forty artists, some of whom have been working
on this topic for a long time. The form spectrum of the exhibited works is diverse: from painting
and collage to sculptures and installations to videos and
photographs. The oldest works date back to the 1990s, as well as new works created for the exhibition. T
he exhibition is complemented by quotes from child participants of the educational programs
that DOX has long organized.
Exhibiting artists: Barbora Balek, Josef Bolf, Veronika Bromová, David Černý, Jiří David, Viliam Dočolomanský,
Pavel Forman, Andros Foros, Viktor Frešo, Matouš Háša, Siegfried Herz, Jakub Janovský, Václav Jirásek,
Krištof Kintera, Ester Knapová, Milan Knížák, Zdena Kolečková, Eva Koťátková, Ivana Lomová,
František Matoušek, Marek Meduna, Barbora Myslikovjanová, Petr Nikl, Daniel Pešta, Jiří Petrbok,
Ivan Pinkava, Magdalena Rajchlová, Michal Rapant, Jaroslav Róna, Nikola Emma Ryšavá, Kateřina Šedá,
Adam Štech, Jan Švankmajer, Mark Ther, Lubomír Typlt, Jana Vojnarová, Jan Vytiska, Martin Zet, Martin Žák
Curator: Otto M. Urban