April 30 - May 6,2003

not long ago in Cieszyn. Poland, just across the border from Cesky Tesin. Ends May 25. Staromestske nam. 12. Prague l-old Town Open Tues.-SOO.l0 a.m.-op.m.

I GALLERIES I C21

Obecni diJm-.-Andre ViIets: Picasso

and otheI' Artists f't1oto@"aphs of Villers' artist friends that eI.d<e the milieu of the early 2Olh-eentury Paris. As the ~s titJe 51.gests, many of the portraits are of Picasso, with whom Villefs had a longrunning friendship. See Review, page C20. Ends.June 1Nam. Republiky 5, Prague 1--{)#d Town. Open daily 10 a.m.-o p.m. Prague Castle--Art Is ALstra:1ioI1 This show centering on Czech visual culture of the 19605 includes some 150 artists cn1 compares trends in painting. sculpture and book art from that pivotal decade. Ends May 25. Jfzdama Prazskeho hradu (Prague Castle Riding Schoo/), U praneoo mostu 55 (across the bridge tram the Second Courtyard). Open Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-o p.m. To Fame and Decor (Second Book of Moses, 28th Chapter, Second Verse) An exhibition of precious textiles from the 16th through 20th centuries from Czech and Moravian synagogues. Ends June 23. Clsafska konlma (Imperial Stable). Open Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-op.m. Umeleckopnjmyslove muzeum v praze (Museum of Decorative Arts)---Posters From VIenna 1883-2003 UMPRUM presents 120 years of graphics created in the noted design center. Ends May 25. Ufice 17. Iistopadu 2, Prague l-old Town. Open Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-o p.rn. VaIdStejn$kil jizdama (Wallenstein

COURTESY

ART

Martin Batcar's waterscapes

show his_concern with the treatment of light.

Frame by frame
Martin Balcar takes a deeper look
BY PAUL WILSON FORTHEPQST

RkllIlg SChool)-vaetav BroZik

This exhibition organized by the National Gallery covers all the various genres the artist worked in, from portraiture and still liteS to ' landscapes and bucolic scenes. Extended till Aug. 10. Va/dStejnsk8 3, Prague l-Mala Strana. Open TU(iis.-Sun. 10 a.m.-o p.m.

Window Gallery-Window

Gallery

Through the Eyes of Martin Polak A show of Polak's photographs (jocum/iirlting the installations Oller the past 10 years in the Window Gallery. Since 1993, the British Council's display windoWs have played host to an impressive range of British and Czech a-tists. Ends June 6. British Council, Narodni 10, Prague l-Ne.v Town (in windows facing street). Z8mek troja-l Saw Her So CleaIty: women in the WOIk of JaIwIJ Schikaneder (1855-1924) This exhibition follows the deIIeIopment of Schikaneder's portrayal of women throughout his career. Ends OCt. 31. U trojskeho zamku 1, Prague 7-Troja. Open Tues.Sun. 10 a.m.-o p.m., in winter Sat.~Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. _

OUT OF TOWN
IS!atovy: GKK-GaIerie U bileho jed1l0r0Zee--The World as a Structure, Structure as a Picture I The first of an ambitious two-part exhibition project featuring works by 30 leading Czech artists. The exhibition aims to chart the tendency in Czech art since the second half of the 20th century toward the development Of selfcontained pictorial systems in which it is the mutual relationships of the elements in the works that are primary rather than the picture as a whole. Ends June 4. Nam. Mlru 149, K1atoly. Open daily 9 a.m.-noon, 1-5 p.m. KJenova: GKK-Galerie zamek ~The World as a Structure, Struc:ture as a Picture H The second part of this

Wmdows are an enigmatic symbol in art Tbey might invite the viewer to look' through the painting to a further plane of reality, or in more f<>rm;l1ist works the rectangular frames can form an integral feature of the c0mposition. With his semi-abstract studies of window and door frames, Czech artist Martin Balcar shows a fascination with the form of light itself as it floods through the spaces he defines. Chiefly known as a book designer, Balcarshows aC9;l)wm witt. the surface of his paintings that becomes clear with the first fg,w ~ exhibition '"The Unknown Martin Balcar." His Red ~is WJl)posed of two borizontaI stripes, in deep red and cool blue, overlaid with drips and lattice forms. In Memory of the Past, a cycle of three works, the stripes are vertical, now taking on velvety blues and blacks. WIth Ibis rotation of the planes, the forms of the door and windows at Galerie Manes emeIge from abstraction. Ends May 3. Further wOIts such as Attempt to Take Off juxtapose the radiance of Masarykovo nabf. the exterior light with the blue coolness of the interior space, a physical 250, Prague l-New contrast that is analogous to the division between the inner self and the Town. Open social self. In the painting Somebody Is Missing Yet Is Here, .. hedevice t Tues.--Sun. 10 a.m.:...e of repeated reflection questions the existence of the reflected surfaces. p.m. WIth a recent group of waterscapes, Balcar moves from interior to exterior space. Landscape and Entry to the Marsh typify this development, the former with ribbons of aqueous light snaking across a waterscape illuminated by a full moon, while the latter is all lingering tendrils of mist obscuring ghostly banks of conifers. Itregular patches Of khaki green and browns are built up OVer theswf<lce (lfthe painting against a background of deep, hazy blues and blacks. It is these two noctumal waterscapes th<lt show Balcar's "lnipressipmst side. But he is no Sunday painter frolicking about the countryside in a smock. He is an intellectually indined artist concerned with the treatment of light and its ability to transform the solidity pf .objects. Yet Balcar pares down his objects, here doors a):)dwindows, to their basic lines. It is this reductive impulse in his work that might warrant dubbing Balcar's style Abstract Impressionism.

m~

Zamek Klenova, Janovice nad Uhlavou. Open daily 9 a.rn.-5 p.rn.

LAST CHANCE
Galerie hlllvniho milsta Prahy (prague City Gallery) at Dum U Kamenneho zvonu (HolI$e at the Stone Bell)-The View From Here This group of more than 80 photographic works by some 20 artists from Central Europe and the American Midwest is a jointproject of Arts Midwest and the Ohio Arts Council together With the Ludwig Museum in Budapest Ends Sunday, May 4. Staromestske Mm. 1-3, PriiglJe .~.~ 4/JIln.4ll~.'

exIUIion pqeet ~
. Zdenik ..

MlPIks

.~~~J~_

year's ChalupeckY prize laureate. Ends Wednesday, April :;0. Jungmannova 30, Prague 1-New Town. Open nool1"'6 p.m. Galerie Man-The~ Martin Balcar Paintings. See Review, this page. Ends Saturday, May 3. MasarykOvo nabf. 250, Prague l-New Town. Open 1.15 a.m.-o p.m. Galerie Velryba-Jan Vaca: !J.~ A show by a student at the rnst.itute of Creative Photography if) Opava. Ends Sunday, May 4. Opqto\lici<f; 24, Praguel-"New Town. Open Mon.-Fri. noon-9 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 5-10 p.m.

Prague l-Gld Town. Open 10 a.m.-op.m. Obeclli galerie beseda--Jubilants of the Manes Artists' Association Works by more than a d9Zlm members of S.V.U, Manes, all Who celebrate a jqbiJee birthday in 2003. Ends $Unr!ay, May 4. Malostranske n<5im,21, Prague 1-Mala Strana. Open 1-0 p.m. YeI!ltlil1i palac (National Gallery Collections of 19th--Century and Modem and Contemporary Art)-Art and Interior The fourth annual presentation of Czech and international interior desigri. Ends

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