The Czech Center New York presents a selection of artifacts from the Home Art collection in Prague.
Svícen – Klecící ~ena kov Tulipány kov
Home Art is a phenomenon that arose in the second half of the 20th century in communist Czechoslovakia. Home Art was made by people with no art education and with ambition not reaching beyond the intent of creating a piece of art simply for their and their family's joy. These artifacts decorated the interiors of Communist era housing projects, countryside cottages, offices and workrooms, pubs and military dormitories. Artistry, craftsmanship, and a peculiar design inspiration is much in evidence as one tours this collection which serves as a kind of document of the personal and widely felt response to the social and economic constraints of that era.
Dekorace chemlon Hodiny prekli~ka, drevo, budík
Home Art, especially at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, complemented the "atomic style", for which the name "Brussels style" is used in Czechoslovakia after the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, where Czech designs won 27 gold medals.
Svícen kov Ferda Mravenec kov
While bursts of Czech Home Art activity can be seen in the mid 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the 1960s was the time when it reached its peak. By the fall of the communist regime in 1989, this modern folklore has more or less disappeared.
Cert kov Palmy kov
What these Home Art pieces may lack in formal aesthetic, they more than make up for in sheer creativity and whimsy, and it is in this light as artifacts that they are best appreciated as they represent important historical and social evidence belonging to a bygone era.
Pantofle chemlon Prostírání chemlon
Exhibition
Home Art
At the Czech Center New York
From June 16 to September 15 2011
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