Finding the future in the past , 2004, Prague Post, English

<small>Z Kokolia</small>

autor textu: Mimi Fronczak Rogers

Finding the future in the past
An international show reopens an historic dialogue

týdeník Prague Post, 26.8.2004, vyšlo k výstavě: Certain Traces, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles

Fifteen years ago, in the summer of 1989, the exhibition "Dialogue/Prague/Los Angeles" opened under the stern gaze of communist-era authorities in Prague. The groundbreaking initiative brought the works of 16 artists from California into direct dialogue with that of 12 Czech and Moravian counterparts.

During the show's one-month run here, more than 5,000 visitors streamed through the doors of two exhibition venues, with police standing close by. A well-attended symposium was electrified with open discussion. Nearly a year later, in June 1990, the Czech artists, now able to freely cross national borders, traveled to L.A. This thrilling cultural exchange happened thanks to the incredible tenacity of two women from different cultures with opposing political systems -- Zdenka Gabalova and Barbara Benish.

A lot has changed in the ensuing decade and a half in both countries, but the need for a continued -- and reinvigorated -- dialogue among cultures remains a constant. That's why Benish has initiated a revival of the original exchange project. The first part of "Certain Traces: Dialogue Los Angeles/Prague 2004" opens on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at California's Pomona College Museum of Art and several other exhibition spaces.

The second leg opens in Prague on Nov. 17, the 15th anniversary of the demonstrations that eventually brought down communist rule. The two Prague venues where the original show took place are both long-gone art spaces: Lidovy dum (People's House), with its big red star hovering above the entrance, and Galerie Mladych (Youth Gallery). The new show will be held in an artist-run, warehouselike alternative space in Karlin and in the elegant Museum Kampa.

A core group of seven Czech artists from the original lineup is participating in the new round of exhibitions: Tomas Cisarovsky, Ivan Kafka, Vladimir Kokolia, Jan Merta, Vladimir Merta, Tomas Ruller and Margita Titlova. They are joined by eight new artists: Erika Bornova, Jiri Cernicky, Jitka Havlickova, Eva Jelinkova, Alena Kotzmannova, Petr Nikl, Stepanka Simlova and Jan Jakub Kotik. The original California group will be represented by Kim Abeles, Habib Kheradyar, Leland Means, Christian Mounger, Karl Matson and 10 new artists.

Benish, a California native who has been a Czech resident since 1993, is this time exhibiting as part of the Prague group. She is again co-curating the show, but sadly without Gabalova, who lost a fight against cancer in 2002. "In part, this is in memory of her," says Sarah Brock, Benish's co-curator for the 2004 show.

One new direction of "Certain Traces" is the inclusion of more women from the Czech side -- five of the eight new participants. Of the original group from Prague there was only one woman, Titlova. "We wanted to balance it out," Brock says.

In reconsidering the work by the artists who were in the first show, "It became apparent that many were literally piecing together or layering materials," she says. This provided a focus for the selection of new artists. They were picked "not only on the basis of links in formal characteristics, but also because of the sense in their work of the new layers that are taking shape in society," Brock says.

Like the first "Dialogue," this one is a real grass-roots effort. "In the same way as the original show, it's not conventional in its organization," Brock says. Although Gabalova was able to elicit the required nods of numerous bureaucrats, the first show didn't have any official government backing or support. The California artists raised funds by selling T-shirts and art; those who traveled to Prague paid for the trip out of their own pockets. To avoid steep shipping costs, some of the artists made the work in Prague and left it here. And in both countries, the artists stayed in the homes of their counterparts.

This time around, the cost of shipping the work overseas was absorbed by local art patron and collector Karel Babicek, who operates a shipping company. The use of the art spaces is being donated, as is the printing of the catalogues. And again, the artists will be the guests of their overseas colleagues. Unlike last time, however, no grant has come through to help the Czech artists fly to California for the opening of their exhibition; only about half can afford to go.

The reinvigorated dialogue initiated with "Certain Traces" is sure to present viewers on both sides of the ocean with a fascinating opportunity to reconsider the path that Czech art has taken since the barriers and restrictions fell away. In a fresh context, it will be possible to see the links and differences in artmaking practices among generations working in both countries.

"The L.A. work in juxtaposition with the Czech work is a wonderful way to allow the disposition of the Czech work to emerge," says Brock, "to highlight what's common with the L.A. artists and what's distinctively Czech."

Certain Traces: Dialogue Los Angeles/Prague 2004, runs Aug. 31-Oct. 13. Its main venue is the Pomona College Museum of Art (333 College Way, Claremont, California. Open Tues.-Fri. noon-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 1-5 p.m.); other venues include the Post Gallery, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the Sam Francis Gallery in Santa Monica, the SPACE Gallery in Corona del Mar, the Shed in Newport Beach and the Czech Front Gallery.