Jiří Kovanda

08.04.–27.05.2006

Jiří Kovanda is one of the conceptual artists from Central and Eastern Europe who have been rediscovered recently. His actions and interventions from the 1970s have already been presented in various exhibitions such as East Art Map, Body and the East and Parallel Actions. Presently, his works are part of the exhibition Kontakt (from the Art Collection of the Erste Bank Group) in the Museum Moderner Kunst (MUMOK) in Vienna. Kovanda’s work not only interests curators and art institutions, but also other artists, for instance Didier Courbots who tries to do a remake of the action “Cekám, až mi nekdo zavolá” (Waiting for a telephone call ... ). A catalogue of Kovanda’s complete actions and interventions from the 1970s and 1980s is being prepared for publishing.
Kovanda’s creative periods can be described as intensive time spans of many years, during which the appearance of his works and their formal identity transformed. However, there are certain elements is his works which remain constant. He is fascinated by the elusive and by spheres, where it is no longer possible to distinguish between art and commonplace.