Reviewed in brief, 1998, Prague Post, English

<small>Z Kokolia</small>

autor textu: John McKeown

Reviewed in brief
New Tapestry at Manes Gallery

týdeník Prague Post, 1.4.1998, vyšlo k výstavě: Výstava goblénů, Výstavní síň Mánes, Praha

It's a rare Czech company that can celebrate 100 years of continuous production, particularly when that firm, MGM - Moravska gobelinova manufaktura, or the Moravian Tapestry Manufacture, of Valasske Mezirici - specializes in tapestries, textiles and handwoven carpets. This is no retrospective of past achievements, however; rather, it's a bold display of new weavings inspired by the work of contemporary Czech artists such as Karel Malich, Stanislav Kolibal, Zbysek Sion, Vladimir Kokolia and Michal Cihlar. It is refreshingly disconcerting to see the kind of abstraction usually associated with oils and acrylics rendered in huge wool-and-cotton tapestries. The result is a strange heaviness, weightiness, permanency, with a surprisingly clear-cut depth to the images. Malich's forms are wonderfully vivid, while Sion's are reminiscent of the abstract visions of Frantisek Kupka. The 33 pieces include classic Gobelin tapestries, two kilims and "binding technique" weavings, and embrace a great variety in subject and tone: from Zorka Saglova's scarlet rabbits in flagrante to the nearly 4-meter-long (13-foot-long) restatement of Jiri David's meditation Dawn, to designs by Ivan Chatrny and Milan Grygar that translate those artists' typically sparse, linear composition in terms that emphasize the textures, warp and woof of the materials. MGM's dual purpose is to preserve the craft of handweaving and to make today's artists aware of tapestry as an aesthetically viable medium. Together with the Actual Textile Art group, MGM is running a long-term collaboration between its weavers and practicing Czech and foreign visual artists, which has already produced commercial and gallery work in venues across the republic. The project reflects the goal of the company's founder, the painter Rudolf Schlattauer, to make works of high quality correspond to the artistic currents of the times.

Ends April 9. Masarykovo nabr. 250, Prague 1. Open daily except Mon. 10-6. Admission: 25 Kc.