Database
Běla Kolářová
Orodzony/a 24 Marzec 1923, TerezínUmarł/a 12 Kwiecień 2010, Prague
Běla Kolářová, Czech artist and wife of Jiří Kolář, is particularly well known in the Czech environment for her photographic experiments and creation of subtle assemblages. As Marie Klimešová put it: "her seemingly calm works are full of surprising energy and ingeniousness. They are based on a sensitive balance of opposites: they are intelligent and reserved, but at the same time personal and corporal, involving humour and dignity.“
(Barbora Kundračíková)
(Barbora Kundračíková)
photography, object, drawing, assemblage, installation, show in map
1956
Běla Kolářová started to systematically take photos in the mid-1950's. The first integrated series was called Dětské hry / Children's Games (1957) and it was formally classified under the then popular genre of documentary photography. However, Kolářová was primarily interested in the principle of a secret or personal world. It was a motif which made her participate in the civilian style of Group 42 in later years. Her photographs from the end of the decade show the same interest in randomly discovered discarded objects and forgotten places, and contain traces of surrealism strategies (Na jedné ulici / On a Street, 1956
1960
Even though Běla Kolářová was self taught, she participated in most of the significant exhibitions in the 1960's. Her works were presented at the Křižovatky / Crossroads meeting (1964), and at the Surrealismus a fotografie / Surrealism and Photography (1966) and Nová citlivost / New Sensitivity (1967) exhibitions. In 1969, along with her husband Jiří Kolář (1914-2002) and the Ságls, she participated in the Někde něco / Something Somewhere exposition in the Špála Gallery in Prague
1961
In the works which followed, Běla Kolářová stopped using photographic apparatus and began to use direct light exposure. She used small objects (so called vegetage in the case of organic objects, and photomontage in the case of inorganic objects) which she either directly projected onto a paper screen or which she fixed in a thin paraffin layer onto celluloid tape and exposed them to light as matrices. The resulting Umělé negativy / Artificial Negatives (Muškátový ořech / Nutmeg, 1961
1962
In these years, Běla Kolářová further developed her interest in photography techniques. She endeavoured to create an absolute photograph, which means photographs "…without a model, without a camera.“ The Rentgenogramy / X-ray Images was a distinctive reflection of the interwar avant-garde (Duchamp's rotoreliefs), its experimentation and dynamism. Continuous motion, rotation, formation of rows and - with a view to the title - an attempt to reveal the unseen and the invisible were typical for her. At the same time, Kolářová dealt with random change, the manipulation which disturbs the system (Spínací špendlík / Safety Pin, 1963).
Grey phonograph (photography)
[Bulbs] (photography)
[Untitled] (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
The X-ray circle (photography)
1963
Běla Kolářová maintained her interest in photographic experimentation in her works. She worked on a series of photographic derealisations (Baudelaire, Ionesco, Morgenstern and others) which once again represented an atypical response to the inspirations of rational constructivism. Kolářová sought order and rhythm in things. As with Kolář, her approach (chiasmages, rollages) was distinctive for keeping the visual richness of the depictive tradition: through questioning the subjectivity, a continuous use of the principles of random, intuition, and games, and through evoking the intimacy and close proximity of the known world.
In her derealisation cycle, she combined (as did Vladimír Boudník under the influence of Jiří Kolář) two autonomous layers, photographs of poets, her own light paintings and X-ray images of a circle. This made it possible for her to work with metaphor, to develop and emphasize specific motifs, and to use them to emphasize the literary dimension of a given personality. A good example is the metamorphosed painting of Walt Whitman (1964): Kolářová used the original portrait as a background of geometrically regular assemblages consisting of small objects which she then photographed. She used the same method for a few symptomatic works of European culture: Michelangelo's Creation of Adam da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, etc.
Kolářová became increasingly attracted by the three-dimensional world. She moved from photo-assemblages to real material assemblages in which she used human hair (with reference to classical poetry) and other small objects.
Emila Medková (photography)
1965
Object (group exhibition, Prague)
1966
In 1966, her first solo exhibition was held in the Gallery in Charles Square (Prague) in which she presented assemblages of small elements, snap fasteners, razor blades, matches and beads.
Untitled (from the series Dishes) (mixed media)
Poezie písma (group exhibition, Prague)
The Picture and Font (group exhibition, Prague)
Surrealismus a fotografie (group exhibition, Brno)
Spring Exhibition 1966 (group exhibition, Prague)
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
The Picture and Font (group exhibition, Prague)
Surrealismus a fotografie (group exhibition, Brno)
Spring Exhibition 1966 (group exhibition, Prague)
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
1968
At the end of the 1960’s, Kolářová reduced the range of materials to razor blades (Žiletka I./ Razor Blade I., 1969), snap fasteners (Variace na dva trojúhelníky / Variation on Two Triangles, 1968) and paper clips (Kdybychom mohly vyprávět / If only we could talk, 1969).
Reflection (mixed media)
Concretists´Club and Guests (group exhibition, )
The New Sensitivity. Křižovatka and Guests (group exhibition, Brno)
The New Sensitivity. Křižovatka and Guests (group exhibition, Brno)
1970
Spiral (photography)
1971
Nothingness (mixed media)
1975
In the second half of the 1970's, Kolářová started to use a make-up kit for her works. The resulting, often large-scale, works were characterized by intimacy and corporality (which corresponded with the chosen method), which were compensated by the geometrical and rational character of the paintings’ surfaces (Marie a Eva / Mary and Eve, 1975
1979
1980
In the early 1980's, Kolářová worked on assemblages of hair, cosmetics, and artificial jewellery, using picture reproductions as the background (Japonka / Japanese Woman, 1980
1981
From 1981 to 1985, Běla Kolářová lived in Prague without her husband. She summarized her long-term efforts in ten autobiographical boards of the Životopis jedné patentky / Life of a snap fastener (1981) set. Besides her personal experiences, cultural and historical impulses resonated in the topic of a Large Pin: the cycle consisted of boards which reflected childhood (Koncert v parku / Concert in a Park
1982
Biography of one stud IV. (Black Plague) (mixed media)
1985
Běla Kolářová lived with her husband Jiří Kolář in Paris.
1988
Screen (mixed media)
1989
In the late 1980's, Běla Kolářová returned to the derealisation series from two decades before. She used the Jiří Kolář's original chiasmages and combined them with texts of popular poets, such as Dante, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Morgenstern, Apollinaire, and Eliot. Kolářová simulated the structure of a poetic text using the form of assemblage of small artificial jewellery (Apollinair's Rain), feathers (Morgenstern's Feather), hair (Villon) and other materials.
1990
Bela Kolarova (solo exhibition, )
1992
Běla Kolářová: Fotografie z počátku šedesátých let ze sbírek Moravské galerie v Brně (solo exhibition, )
Minisalon (group exhibition, Prague)
Minisalon (group exhibition, Prague)
1993
Poetry of Rationality / Constructive Tendencies in Czech Art of the 60s (group exhibition, Prague)
1994
Zwischen Zeit Raum I (group exhibition, Düsseldorf)
Europe, Europe. The Century of the Avant-garde in Central and Eastern Europe (group exhibition, Bonn)
Europe, Europe. The Century of the Avant-garde in Central and Eastern Europe (group exhibition, Bonn)
1996
Sampler of washers II. (mixed media)
1997
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Między tradycją a eksperymentem. Sztuka czeska 1939–1989 ze zbiorów Muzeum Sztuki w Ołomuńcu. Międzynarodowe (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Między tradycją a eksperymentem. Sztuka czeska 1939–1989 ze zbiorów Muzeum Sztuki w Ołomuńcu. Międzynarodowe (group exhibition, Olomouc)
1999
"... What a Collection." Additions of the Olomouc Museum of Art for the years 1985–1998 (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Art of Accelerated Time. Czech Art Scene 1958-1968 (group exhibition, Prague)
Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Art of Accelerated Time. Czech Art Scene 1958-1968 (group exhibition, Prague)
2001
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Photography as Art in Czechoslovakia 1959 - 1968 (group exhibition, Brno)
Object - Object: Metamorphoses in Time (group exhibition, Prague)
Photography as Art in Czechoslovakia 1959 - 1968 (group exhibition, Brno)
Object - Object: Metamorphoses in Time (group exhibition, Prague)
2003
[Běla Kolářová] (solo exhibition, )
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Art is an Abstraction. Czech visual Culture of the 60s (group exhibition, Prague)
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Art is an Abstraction. Czech visual Culture of the 60s (group exhibition, Prague)
2004
Look Light (group exhibition, Prague)
Běla Kolářová: Fotografie a asambláže (solo exhibition, Prague)
Proximate Distance: Czech Art between 1956 and 1972 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Székesfehérvár)
Běla Kolářová: Fotografie a asambláže (solo exhibition, Prague)
Proximate Distance: Czech Art between 1956 and 1972 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Székesfehérvár)
2005
The Sword of Damocles: Czech Art 1956–1972 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Czech Photography of the 20th century (group exhibition, Prague)
Czech Photography of the 20th century (group exhibition, Prague)
2006
Experiment, řád, důvěrnost: Ženské rastry Běly Kolářové (solo exhibition, Olomouc)
Intimní experiment: Tvorba Běly kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, Prague)
In tow of the Avant-garde? Czech Art 1956–1978 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, )
Intimní experiment: Tvorba Běly kolářová (solo exhibition, )
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, Prague)
In tow of the Avant-garde? Czech Art 1956–1978 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, )
2008
Běla Kolářová: Asambláže a fotografie (solo exhibition, Prague)
No cage for me! Czech and Slovak art 1970–1989 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
For Exam in Paradise? Art of the Sixties from the Collections of the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Cutting Realities. Gender Strategies in Art (group exhibition, New York (NY))
Czech and Slovak Fine Art 60s of the 20th century (group exhibition, Trenčín)
No cage for me! Czech and Slovak art 1970–1989 from the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
For Exam in Paradise? Art of the Sixties from the Collections of the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Cutting Realities. Gender Strategies in Art (group exhibition, New York (NY))
Czech and Slovak Fine Art 60s of the 20th century (group exhibition, Trenčín)
2009
Czech Photography of the 20th Century (group exhibition, Bonn)
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, Munich)
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, Munich)
2010
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, Prague)
Czech Collage from a Collection of Pragues Gas (group exhibition, Prague)
The Reality is more than Fiction: Assemblage as a creative Principle in Czech Art 60s and 70s (group exhibition, Brno)
Czech Collage from a Collection of Pragues Gas (group exhibition, Prague)
The Reality is more than Fiction: Assemblage as a creative Principle in Czech Art 60s and 70s (group exhibition, Brno)
2011
In the full Spectrum. Photographs 1900-1950 from the Collection of the Moravian Gallery in Brno (group exhibition, Brno)
2012
Civilized Illusions: The Photographic Collection of the Olomouc Museum of Art (group exhibition, Olomouc)
From Tizian to Warhol / Olomouc Museum of Art 1951-2011 (group exhibition, Olomouc)
From Tizian to Warhol / Olomouc Museum of Art 1951-2011 (group exhibition, Olomouc)
2013
Běla Kolářová (solo exhibition, London)
Century of Relativity. Permanent Exhibition of 20th Century Fine Arts (group exhibition, Olomouc)
Century of Relativity. Permanent Exhibition of 20th Century Fine Arts (group exhibition, Olomouc)
2015
Ludwig Goes Pop + The East Side Story (group exhibition, Budapest)
2016
Double Take: Drawing and Photography (group exhibition, London)
2017
Czechoslovakia / A Critical Reader (group exhibition, Bratislava)
Image and Word in Czech Art of the 1960s (group exhibition, Plzeň)
Image and Word in Czech Art of the 1960s (group exhibition, Plzeň)
2019
Kuna nese nanuk: The Art of Reading Art (group exhibition, Humpolec)
Culmination / The Apex of Czech Fine Art (group exhibition, Prague)
Běla Kolářová: Pohyb / čas (solo exhibition, Liberec)
Culmination / The Apex of Czech Fine Art (group exhibition, Prague)
Běla Kolářová: Pohyb / čas (solo exhibition, Liberec)