VÝSTAVA - VYVOLANÉ OBRAZY - JOSEF VÁCHAL / MILOŠ ŠEJN

Together with other personalities such as Jaroslav Hašek, Ladislav Klíma, Jiří and Běla Kolář, Jindřich Chalupecký and Jiřina Hauková, František Kobliha, Václav Tallich, Fráňa Šrámek, T.R. Field, or Mikuláš and Emilie Medka, Josef Váchal (1884 in Milavč - 1969 in Studeňany u Jičín) is one of the important artists shaping the cultural environment of the Vršovice district. From 1915, Váchal lived in the basement of the house on Tyršovy street no. 7. (today the corner of Žitomírská and Kodaňská streets) five minutes' walk from Vzlet, and the exhibition was created as a reminder of the 140 years that have passed since the birth of this versatile artist who, in addition to graphics, woodcarving, letterpress, and literature, also used the "new medium" of technical images. He was interested in the possibility of creating an image of reality through the lens of the camera during the "spiritistic" process in the developer. He experimented with multiple exposure, composition from multiple images, appropriation of found photos, linking text and photos. The exhibition features a selection of enlargements or contacts from the original glass plates that Miloš Šejn had on loan from his private collection for the exhibition in the Moravian Gallery, supplemented by two photographs of Miloš Šejn, whose poetics drew inspiration from Váchal's work from the beginning. The photographs are divided into files: faces - his own and those close to him, including the deceased Maria Váchalová, scenes from the exterior and the studio, for example the famous artist's stylization into the figure of Christ, and snapshots and studies from walks in the city and nature. Including found "lancafts" - landscape paintings that Váchal produced for a certain period on order, augmented by several period photographs of Vršovice from the collection of the Prague Capital Museum.
The program of the composed evening offers:
Miloš Šejn and Váchal's photographs. Miloš Šejn works in the fields of visual art, photography, film and performance. Since 1992, he has led the multidisciplinary project Bohemiae Rosa, focused on research into the relationship between the human body and place. He is currently focusing on an area based on the concept of a historical humanized landscape and holistic nature.
Hana Klínková: reading from diaries from the time when Váchal lived in Žitomírská Street. Hana Klínková, author of the extensive publication Kniha Vzpomínek, works in the archives of the Museum of Literature and specializes in the life and work of the artist and writer Josef Váchal and Anna Macková.
Robert Smolík and Lukáš Jiřička: reading From the Ritual of the Toledo Hereticians. The unveiling of a bibliophilia reprint from 1911, published in 2024 by the Balbineum association. Set designer, author of puppets and mechanical objects, artist Robert Smolík is the initiator of the association Balbineum. since the 1990s, he has been saving and reviving monuments in Jičín, especially the Valdštejnská loggia and the Jesuit dormitory. He works as an assistant professor at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theater of the Prague DAMU. He comes from Jičín, where he lives with his family. Likáš Jiříčka is a theater, film and radio dramaturg and director, screenwriter, columnist, pedagogue and editor of the book From the Ritual of Toledo Haeretics.
The exhibition was prepared by Vojtěchovský and Šejn, with the cooperation of Hana Klínková. loan of books by the Trigon publishing house and pre-registrations from the Collections of the Prague Museum or private collections.
Curator of the Rohovka gallery: Denisa Václavová