The publishing activities of the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové
Since 2019, GMU has systematically worked to expend the number and range of its publications and to improve their visual and informative qualities while promoting their distribution throughout the Czech Republic. Instead of merely mirroring GMU’s exhibition activities, the gallery’s publishing plan now also includes specialized books for art historians, educational works for the general public, academic anthologies, monographs, artists’ books and translations of foreign publications.
With the aim of developing a more systematic approach to its publishing activities, in 2001 the gallery established four publication series (Artists’ Books and Monographs, Exhibition Catalogues and Resources, Popular Knowledge Series, Central and Eastern Europe Series) designed to cover the aforementioned range of books. Each publication is put together with a focus on professionalism, interdisciplinarity, contextuality and comprehensive information. In order to ensure the proper level of academic professionalism, the gallery established an Editorial Board and began to work with outside curators, editors, art theorists and leading experts on each book’s particular topic.
With a view to its Collection of Central and Eastern Europe, in 2021 the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové created a translation series focused on modern and contemporary art from Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of this series is to provide the Czech academic community with important theoretical texts relating to art from this region while also serving as a solid theoretical foundation for GMU’s key acquisition activities. In 2022, the gallery published its first book in this series, a Czech translation of leading Polish art theorist Piotr Piotrowski’s Významy modernismu. K historii polského umění po roce 1945 (Meanings of Modernism: Towards a History of Polish Art after 1945). First published in Poland in 1999 as Znaczenia modernizmu, Piotrowski’s book is an analysis of Polish art from the mid-1940s to the present day. Another publication is Kulturní převlékání. Umění na troskách socialismu a na vrcholcích nacionalismu (Cultural Crossdressing: Art on the Ruins of Socialism and on the Pinnacles of Nationalism, 2024) by Hungarian art historian Edit András, who references Piotrowski in her work.
Central and Eastern Europe Series
Piotr Piotrowski, Významy modernismu. K historii polského umění po roce 1945, Hradec Králové 2022, ISBN 978-80-87605-64-6
Polish art historian Piotr Piotrowski’s fundamental Meanings of Modernism: Towards a History of Polish Art after 1945 describes key moments in the history of Polish art from the end of the Second World War until the 1990s. Piotrowski interprets his country’s art scene within the context of the prevailing social and political situation while boldly taking on numerous established, almost mythological interpretations, such as the division of art from the communist era into “official” and “unofficial” art. Nor does he shy away from critiquing the evolution of Polish society in the 1990s, including the role of the Catholic Church and the Solidarity movement. The book introduces readers to various ways of approaching the legacy of modernism, from the postwar crisis of the image to the neo-avant-garde of the sixties and seventies and the postmodernism of the late 20th century. Piotrowski takes note of how and why the status of art in Poland differed from that in other Soviet-bloc countries and explains what factors ultimately made this art attractive for Western curators. The publication features a rich set of illustrations. The original book was published in Poland in 1999 (Piotr Piotrowski, Znaczenia modernizmu. W stronę historii sztuki polskiej po 1945 roku; Poznań, 1999); the Czech translation was based on the second edition from 2011.
Edit András, Kulturní převlékání. Umění na troskách socialismu a na vrcholcích nacionalismu, Hradec Králové 2023, ISBN 978-80-87605-65-3
Cultural Crossdressing: Art on the Ruins of Socialism and on the Pinnacles of Nationalism (Kulturní převlékání. Umění na troskách socialismu a na vrcholcích nacionalismu) is a Czech translation of selected parts from two related books by Hungarian art historian and theorist Edit András: Cultural Crossdressing: Art on the Ruins of Socialism (2009 in Hungarian) and Imaginary Transgression: Contemporary Art and Critical Theory in Eastern Europe (2023 in Hungarian). The first part of the Czech publication looks at the Hungarian art scene, artistic trends and artists during the transformation era (1989–2010). The second part explores the period after 2010 (Fidesz’s rise to power), with a particular focus on authoritarian and nationalist tendencies in Hungary. Applying critical writing methods, András introduces readers to the country’s art scene and the work of Hungarian artists, with a special focus on socially engaged, socially sensitive and critical works. She is interested in the changing social status of art and the ways in which it has adapted to or resisted the current situation. She describes how post-socialist culture is coming to terms with its past, explores the gender aspects of Hungarian art, and studies the relationship between culture and power and how easily cultural and historical themes can be politically exploited.
The editorial plan of GMU for 2023 includes:
Martina Pachmanová, Věra Jičínská, Hradec Králové: Galerie moderního umění v Hradci Králové 2023, ISBN 978-80-87605-84-4.
Vjera Borozan (ed.), Naťuknout špičku vejce: Kolumbus jindy a dnes, Hradec Králové: Galerie moderního umění v Hradci Králové 2023, ISBN 978-80-87605-77-6.
Edit András, Kulturní převlékání. Umění na troskách socialismu a vrcholech nacionalismu, Hradec Králové: Galerie moderního umění v Hradci Králové 2023, ISBN 978-80-87605-65-3.
Following the Collection of Central and Eastern European Art, the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové has established a new translation series focused on modern and contemporary art in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of this series is to provide Czech art professionals with important theoretical texts concerning visual arts in these regions, as well as to provide a high-quality theoretical foundation for GMU’s key acquisition activities.
At the end of 2022, the gallery released its first publication in this new series, a Czech translation of the book “The Meanings of Modernism: A History of Polish Art after 1945” by the prominent Polish art theorist Piotr Piotrowski. First published in Poland in 1999, the book outlines the key moments of Polish visual art from the end of World War II to the 1990s. The next title in the series will be “Cultural Transformation” by Hungarian art historian Edit András, which references Piotr Piotrowski’s aforementioned work.
The editorial plan of GMU for 2022 includes:
Piotr Piotrowski, Významy modernismu. K historii polského umění po roce 1945, Hradec Králové 2022, ISBN 978-80-87605-64-6.
Vjera Borozan – Miloš Šejn, O vodě, myslícím těle a stopách zkušenosti, Hradec Králové 2022, ISBN 978-80-87605-71-4.
Accompanying texts to exhibitions:
Silvie Šeborová, Tereza Velíková – Příkladné nedostatky, ISBN 978-80-87605-72-1.
Mariana Serranová, Eva Jiřička – Mezi sebou, ISBN 978-80-87605-76-9.
Anna Horák Zemanová, Jiří Pitrmuc – Tunnel Funnel, ISBN 978-80-87605-74-5.
Anna Horák Zemanová, Světlana Pavlíčková – Milieu, ISBN 978-80-87605-81-3.
Martin Zet, Laciné sochy, ISBN 978-80-87605-78-3.
Vjera Borozan, Naťuknout špičku vejce: Kolumbus jindy a dnes, ISBN 978-80-87605-82-0.
Ladislav Jezbera, Ego, ISBN 978-80-87605-75-2.
Vjera Borozan, Miloš Šejn – AQUA, ISBN 978-80-87605-73-8.
Vjera Borozan, Lenka Klodová – Z černého stínu, ISBN 978-80-87605-80-6.
To systematize its publishing activity in 2021, GMU has established four editorial series, namely the Edition of Authorial Books and Monographs, Edition of Exhibition Catalogs and Accompanying Materials, Edition of Popular Science Publications, and Edition of Central and Eastern Europe. These editorial series cover the defined spectrum of titles with an emphasis on expertise, interdisciplinarity, contextualization, and complexity of the presented information.
In 2021, the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové, in collaboration with Eastern Front, published the authorial book “Attempt to Rediscover Reality” by Alena Kotzmannová. In the book, the artist presents her series of “Attempts” (from 2008 to 2019), which confront photos, prints, and objects arranged into meaningful sequences. The publication includes texts by contemporary art historians and curators (William Hunt, Edith Jeřábková, Martina Pachmanová, Michal Pěchouček, Tomáš Pospiszyl, Jiří Ptáček, Lenka Vítková, Radek Wohlmuth, Dušan Zahoranský).
Another publication is the authorial book by painter and tattoo artist Bronislava Orlická, published on the occasion of the “And the Mountain Will Dissolve” exhibition held from September 18 to November 28, 2021, at GMU. The publication “Bronislava Orlická” presents Orlická’s works presented at her exhibitions, supplemented with sketches, tattoo designs, and poetic texts by the author. Štěpán Marko is the graphic designer.
The editorial plan of GMU for 2021 includes:
Alena Kotzmannová, Attempt to Rediscover Reality, ISBN
978-80-87605-45-5 (authorial book)
Bronislava Orlická, Štěpán Marko eds., Bronislava Orlická, ISBN
978-80-87605-66-0 (authorial book)
Martina Vítková, Petr Vaňous, Alexander Peroutka et al., Milan Langer,
Hradec Králové 2021. ISBN 978-80-87605-42-4 (collective monograph)
František Zachoval, Petra Příkazská, Jiřina Vyorálková (edd.),
Original? The Art of Imitating Art, Hradec Králové 2021. ISBN 978-80-87605-63-9 (critical catalog)
Accompanying texts to exhibitions:
Hana Janečková, Marie Lukáčová – Frugo, 05/06/21–29/08/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-49-3.
Jiří Ptáček, Late Intimacy – Pavel Baňka, Veronika Šrek Bromová, Michal Kalhous, Alena Kotzmannová, Markéta Othová, Rudolf Samohejl, Lucia Sceranková, Tomáš Svoboda, Aleksandra Vajd, Lenka Glisníková & Karolína Matušková, 01/06/21–29/08/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-48-6.
Nina Moravcová, Tereza Severová (Dalibor Chatrný, Ivan Kafka) – Tree in the middle of the landscape, 05/06/21–29/08/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-50-9.
Anna Zemanová, Bronislava Orlická (Jan Zrzavý) – And the mountain will dissolve, 18/09/21–28/11/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-56-1.
Martin Mazanec, Yes No Yes – Video Studio ft. Martin Mazanec & Jan Šrámek, 18/09/21–28/11/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-57-8.
Václav Janoščík, Pavla Sceranková – Miloš, 18/09/21–22/05/22, ISBN 978-80-87605-54-7.
Petra Příkazská, František Vyskočil, František Zachoval, Original? Art of Imitating Art, 01/10/21–27/02/22, ISBN 978-80-87605-58-5.
In 2020, Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové collaborated with Jindřich Chalupecký Society and BiggBoss Books to publish a book by Matyáš Chochola called Scent of Success. Scent of Success is an artistic experiment utilizing the lettrism technique, where words and images are intuitively arranged to form new compositions and free units. The book also contains Chochola’s gestic word art creations. People who helped create the book include Alexander Puškin, who contributed raw animal drawings and whole-page surreal visions. Ondřej Šorm is responsible for graphic design, while Petra Nováková is the book editor. The book was made possible by funds provided by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
New permanent exhibitions were accompanied by two comprehensive catalogues, authored by the exhibition curators. The Last Fifty Years, written by Tomáš Pospiszyl, a leading Czech art scholar, presents a range of topics covering various art forms, approaches and trends, omitting the traditional chronological point of view. Instead, it emphasizes diversity of art language of a large group of male and female artists, including the young generation. The Last Century – Twenty Artists is another catalogue that drops the traditional chronological point of view. Instead, this publication chooses to present works of 20 distinctive artists. It is written by Petra Příkazká, who is s GMU Curator. It includes texts by Kateřina Křížkovská and Judita Kožíšková. Both catalogues were made possible by funds provided by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Anna Štysová was the graphic designer of both catalogues.
In 2020, GMU Edition published a few leaflets to accompany its temporary exhibitions that includes texts by our curators. Cindy Kutíková and Jiří Mocek were the graphic designers of the leaflets:
Two more leaflets were published in 2019. About the Building included a text by Ladislav Zikmund-Lender, an architecture historian. The leaflets focus on the history of the building. The second one, called Stations of the Cross in the 21st Century is a guide to a collection of sculptures, installed outdoors between villages Stanovice and Žireč near Kuks. The guide was written by Kateřina Křížkovská.
2019 saw publication of a large volume dedicated to the life of Josef Doubrava, Bishop of Hradec Králové. The book explains that the bishop was a lover of art. He worked closely with František Urban, whom he commissioned to paint the interiors of a church in Grunta (Kolín District). The book includes texts authored by Tereza Cachová, Marcel Fišer, Judita Kožíšková, Kateřina Křížkovská, Radek Norbert Martinek, Lucie Podhrázská Dušková, Petra Příkazská and Zuzana Vávrová. Publishing of the book was made possible by financial support od Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and Hradec Králové City Council.
Two more exhibition catalogues were published in 2019: Jiří Načeradský & Lubormír Typlt: A Cross Section is an exhibition catalogue published in conjunction with exhibition of the same name held at GMU. It contains an essay written by Petr Vaňous, who was the exhibition curator. The essay covers life and work of Jiří Načeradský and his pupil Lubomír Typlt, a contemporary artist. Another catalogue that the gallery published in 2019 is called Landscape Hidden Inside the World – Pictures of the Orlické Mountains. The catalogue includes text written by the exhibition curator Klára Zářecká and Vlastimil Tokoš, art theorist. The catalogue lists authors who were active in the geographical region of the Orlické Mountains over the period spanning from early 19th century to present. The catalogue also served as a guide for the exhibition, each chapter corresponding to a part of the exhibition.
