Prague Biennale 6 opens Thursday, June 6, 2013

"Turmoil Under The Sea," 1965, Paula Brunner Abelow

Prague Biennale celebrates its 10th anniversary with its 6th edition, which presents again the overview of current artistic tendencies in both central Europe and worldwide. After the pioneering first edition, organized with the National Gallery in 2003, and following with three successful editions in the grandiose industrial space of Karlin Hall, the last edition took place in the futuristic Microna skyscraper.

The inauguration of the 6th Prague Biennale is scheduled for Thursday, June 6, 2013, just after the opening week of the Venice Biennale. This year it is based at the functionalist railway station from 1936, designed by Karel Caivas and Vladimír Weiss, in the vibrant district of Žižkov – the only freight railway station in the Czech Republic, which was recently pronounced as a national monument in March 2013.

The crucial point of Prague Biennale 6 is the section Expanded Painting, curated by Helena Kontova, Giancarlo Politi and Nicola Trezzi, which presents, as always, a spectacular international selection of contemporary painting. Participating artists include some major names on the international art scene including Joshua Abelow (US), Jumaldi Alfi (ID), Ali Banisadr (IR/US), Ashley Bickerton (US/ID), Agostino Bonalumi (IT), Mihuț Boșcu Kafchin (RO), Paula Brunner Abelow (CZ/US), Fendry Ekel (ID/NL), Gábor Gerhes (HU), Alberto Garutti (IT), Peter Halley (US), Helena Hladilová (CZ), John Henderson (US), H. H. Lim (MY/IT), Roman Liška (DE/UK), Florin Maxa (RO), Bruno Munari (IT), Jakub Nepraš (CZ), Joshua Neustein (US/IL), Angel Otero (PR/US), Luděk Rathouský (CZ), Seung-taek Lee (KR), Michael E. Smith (US), Shinique Smith (US), Entang Wiharso (ID/US).

This year, the former section of Prague Biennale dedicated to Czech contemporary art expands to an international context. The curators of the section titled Flow, Zuzana Blochová and Patricia Talacko, do not define generational or local connections nor the current direction of contemporary art. Rather than being similar in content and form, what the artists have in common is their ability to let oneself be carried away and to suppress the intellectual, logical and speculative part of thinking which in turn gives a unique integrity to the works. The participants are Quirin Bäumler (DE), Dirk Bell (DE), Matyáš Chochola (CZ), Václav Girsa (CZ), Milan Grygar (CZ), Čestmír Kafka (CZ), Stanislav Karoli (SK/CZ), Barbara Kasten (US), Esther Kläs (DE/US), Erwin Kneihsl (AT/DE), Bernhard Lehner (DE), Jonas Lipps (DE), Elizabeth Newman (AU), Pavel Pepperstein (RU), Matteo Rovesciato (IT/DE), Richard Stipl (CZ/CA), Viktorie Valocká (CZ), Lenka Vítková (CZ), Dominic Wood (AU/DE), B. Wurtz (US).

The Slovak section Beyond the Art, curated by Mira Sikorová-Putišová, will present work by a selection of renowned Slovak artists who predominantly live abroad. Their interactive and relational work is centred on social issues. The participating artists are Anton Čierny (SK), Katarina Hládeková (SK/CZ), Jana Kapelová (SK/CZ), Daniela Krajčová (SK), Michal Murin (SK), Lucia Nimcová (SK/NL/BE), Štefan Papčo (SK), Tomáš Rafa (SK/PL), Tomáš Šoltys (SK/AT), Matej Vakula (SK/US), Jaroslav Varga (SK/CZ).

Special section of Prague Biennale will present a Homage to Miroslav Tichý (CZ) curated by Roman Buxbaum.

Prague Biennale Photo 3 is titled Photography, Reconstructed and curated by Pavel Vančát. It aims to capture the current non-figurative and statuary tendencies, as reactions to the decline of Modernist photography. Instead of simply capturing reality, the exhibited artists work with the deconstruction and reconstruction of the photographic image. The picture here is not simply being shot, but built up as a commentary to the image or even its critique. The selected artists are Miriam Böhm (DE), Shannon Finley (CAN), Chris Jones (UK), Barbara Kasten (US), Václav Kopecký (CZ), Markéta Othová (CZ), Jaroslav Rössler (CZ), Mateusz Sadowski (PL), Jörg Sasse (DE), Petr Strouhal (CZ), Jan Svoboda (CZ) feat. Dalibor Chatrný (CZ), Jiří Thýn (CZ), Aleksandra Vajd (SI) & Hynek Alt (CZ), and Marianne Vierø (DK/US).

From June 6 to September 15 2013

President: Giancarlo Politi
Director: Helena Kontova
Concept: Getulio Alviani
Chief curator: Nicola Trezzi
Curator for Photography, Reconstructed: Pavel Vančát
Curators for Flow: Zuzana Blochová, Patricia Talacko
Curator for Beyond the Art: Mira Sikorová-Putišová
Curator for Miroslav Tichý: Roman Buxbaum

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