Prague–2013 January 17

Veletržní Palace

My first stop today was the Veletržní Palace, dedicated to art of the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries, which means that some of the art was done by people who might actually still be alive! The building doesn’t look like some old-style palace, though; it’s quite modern.

Here are pictures taken in the museum, in no particular order:

Of course, some of the art definitely went into the WTF category, especially the last one. “Rehabilitation Ward of Dr. Dr.” was first installed in 1970-71 in a basement of a house. It survived, deteriorating, until 1992, when the artist attempted to bury it in a pit in a garden outside Prague. The glass broke, and the pit was filled with earth until 1999. In 2000, remnants were dug up and returned to Prague and installed at the gallery.

OK, back to somewhat normal art. These pictures are from an exhibit with two artists, Jiří Kolář and Béatrice Bizot. I believe all of the items in these pictures are works by Bizot.

This one is “The First Serially Produced Schizophrenia” by Jiří Černický.

These are pictures of René Roubíček’s “Three-dimensional composition for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at the World Exhibition Expo ’58”

I was quite taken by this installation by Jiří Valoch. After the first picture, here are what the words mean:

Some pictures of art deco and old typewriters:

The walls in the first picture show illustrations from The Good Soldier Schweik, by Jaroslav Hašek. The second pictured is a glass elevator which is not only an art piece, but also a working elevator that goes from the first to fifth floors.

Dox

Onward to the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art. There were two main displays there. The first, “Amor, Psýche, Akce-Vídeň,” did not allow photography, and that was all to the good. It was, frankly, disgusting, consisting of pictures and movies of nude people covering themselves with paint and blood, and you don’t really want to know what else. Yeah, yeah, I know “art is supposed to challenge you.” Well, I don’t think it’s supposed to make you want to throw up either. The exhibit was supposed to end on January 14, but it must have been extended a bit. Just unlucky for me, I guess.

The other display was called “Cartographies of hope: change narratives,” and part of it showed posters with interesting contrasts. The last two pictures show a single poster that I thought was quite good, and another part of the installation.

There’s plenty of good stuff outside the building as well. There’s a large man made of footwear, a red skull on a crane that rotates about, and large erasers in the “agora” area.

Dancing Building

I walked back to the hotel from the I.P. Pavlova station, and passed by Frank Gehry’s “Dancing Building.” I hadn’t known where it was, and didn’t plan to see it. I just happened upon it by accident. Just lucky again, I guess.

Miscellaneous Buildings

Advertising and Signage

“The 1960s just called, and they want their van back.”

Don’t know what the text for this one means; I just liked the graphic.

OK, it’s not a sign, but these uniforms seemed very fashionable to me.

This is an advertisement for a company that puts up advertisements.

This is on the wall at the I.P. Pavlova metro station (named after Ivan Pavlov; yes, the one with the dogs).

This is a sign for a place that sells printers and ink cartridges.

And finally, signs that pretty much speak for themselves.