Miroslav Tichy Photography

MiroslavTichý

“…the mistake is a part of it, it is poetry…and for that you need a bad camera.” -MiroslavTichý

“ Sometimes Tichý’s photographs remind me of candles and shadows and silhouettes, ghost stories, keyholes, Jim Morrison lyrics, white bicycles, the short story by John Cheever entitled ‘The Swimmer’ (the bathing suits)...The best art for me is when I see something and say to myself, yea, I could spend an afternoon doing that. For me, the afternoon is in Tichý’s work.” -RichardPrince

ThefirstNorthAmericanmuseumexhibitionofthephotographyofthemysteriousandreclusiveCzechartistMiroslavTichýwillbeonviewattheInternationalCenterofPhotography(1133AvenueoftheAmericasat43rdStreet)fromJanuary29throughMay9,2010.Nowinhiseighties,Tichýisastubbornlyeccentricartist,notedasmuchforhismakeshiftcardboardcamerasasforhishauntinganddistortedimagesofwomenandlandscapes,manyofthemtakensurreptitiously.

BorninMoraviain1926,TichýstudiedpaintingattheAcademyofFineArts(SVU)inPragueintheyearsimmediatelyfollowingtheSecondWorldWar.AfterCzechoslovakia’sadoptionofcommunismin1948,helefttheAcademyandturnedhisbackontheofficialartworld,withdrawingfrommainstreamsociety,inpartasapoliticalresponsetothesocialandculturalrepressionsoftheregime.RegardedasatalentedpainteranddraftsmaninfluencedbyPicassoandtheGermanExpressionists,Tichýdidnotagreewiththeprevailingsocialistrealismoftheday,insteadforminganartistcollectiveknownastheBrněnská Pětka(BrnoFive)withotherlikemindedSVUalumni.Constantlythreatenedandwatchedbytheregime,thegrouptookgreatriskinproducingtheirwork,evenholdingaclandestineexhibitionintheKyjovhospitalin1956.Tichýbenefittedfromthesmall,yetvibrant,culturalsceneofKyjov,takingindanceperformances,plays,andbeginninghisfirstphotographicexperimentationswiththeartistLadislavVíšek.Pronetomentalbreakdownssincehis

media release

1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street New York NY 10036 T 212 857 0045 F 212 857 0090 www.icp.org

Contact:CommunicationsDepartment212.857.0045info@icp.org

OnviewfromJanuary29throughMay9,2010

MediaPreviewJanuary28,201011:30am–1:00pm

RSVP:info@icp.org212.857.0045

MiroslavTichý,Untitled,n.d.©TichýOceanFoundation,Zurich

youth,Tichýworkedalongsidehispeersuntilanapparentpsychoticepisodejustbeforeaplannedexhibitionin1957fromwhichhewithdrewhisimages.Hisworkwasnotexhibitedagainuntilnearlyfourdecadeslater.Overtheyears,hisdeliberatelynonconformistlifestyle—aswellashismentalillness—landedhimintroublewiththeauthoritiesandledtoperiodsofconfinementinpsychiatricinstitutionsandthelossofhisstudioin1972.

LivinginnearisolationinhishometownofKyjov,Tichýconceivedaworldpopulatedbyimagesofthelocalwomen,taking thousands of photographs from the 1960s through the late 1980s. Though he never stopped producingpaintings and drawings, Tichý focused the majority of his attention on the photographic medium, practicallyreinventing it tosuithisartisticvisionofcapturing the feminineessencewith light.Save for thefilm,chemicals,andphotographicpaperheboughtfromanearbydrugstore,allhisphotographicequipmentwasself-made.Usingcamerasinventivelyconstructedfromfoundmaterials—shoeboxes,tincans,clothingelastic,toiletpaperrolls,evencigaretteboxes—Tichýobsessively returns to thesubjectof the female form,whetherviewedfromafarwithhismakeshift telephoto lenses,orcapturedfromthetelevisionscreen.His intuitivemethodofphotographingduringdailywalksabouttownmightappearamateur inambition,butthe intensity,frequency,andregularitywithwhichhecreates revealauniqueanddistinctlypersonalstyleofphotography.Despitehiscamera’scrudeoptics—thelenseswerecutfromPlexiglaspolishedwithsandpaper,toothpaste,andashes—andskewedframing,theresultingimagesareformallycomplex,reflectiveofTichý’searlyarttraining,andvaguelyreminiscentoftheearlyworksoftheclassicalpictorialtradition.Hisimagesofwomen—ofteninbathingsuits,bare-legged,orsimplywalkingabouttown—aresubtlyerotic,takenfromafar,oftenwithouttheknowledgeofthesubjects.Tichýoftenembellishedthesurfacesandbordersofthesescratched,blurred,torn,andspottedimagesbydrawingdirectlyontheminpenorpencil,heighteningtheexpressivequalitycreatedbyhisimperfectequipment.Sometimesframedormountedonnewspaperorcardboard,thesehighlypersonalobjectswerecreatedforhisownviewingpleasure,eachnegativeprintedonlyoncewithahomemadeenlarger.

In1981,Tichý’sprolificbodyofworkwasbroughttolightbyhislongtimeneighbor,psychiatristRomanBuxbaum,whobeganefforts todocument theartistandpreserve thedeterioratingphotographs.Tichý’sworkhasreceivedpublicattentiononlyin the last five years, first going on view in an exhibition byHaraldSzeemannatthe2004SevilleBiennale,whereTichý’sworkwonthe“NewDiscoveryAward.”Afterthisexhibition,theTichýOceanFoundationwasfoundedontheartist’sbehalfbyagroupoftrusteestopreserveandexhibitTichý’swork,whichhassincebeenshownatmajormuseumsincludingtheCentrePompidouinParisandtheKunsthausZürich.

The ICP exhibition, organized by ICP Chief Curator BrianWallis, includesanumberofTichý’shomemadecamerasaswell as approximately 100 of his photographs. Buxbaum’s2004documentaryfilm,Miroslav Tichý: Tarzan Retired,willruncontinuouslyinthegallery.Theexhibitionwillbeaccompanied

byacataloguepublishedbyICP/Steidl,withessaysbyBrianWallis,RomanBuxbaum,CarolynChristovBakargiev,RichardPrince,andNickCave.

Miroslav TichýismadepossiblewithsupportfromClémenceandWilliamvonMueffling.

MiroslavTichý’sCameraNo.1©RomanBuxbaum