On September 15th, we opened the exhibition of a Czech-American artist Petr Sís. Have a look at the reviews, photos from the opening made by Kateřina Dvořáková Manková and visit the exhibition until November 19th in person.
Charlotta Kotik, Opening Remarks:
" I came from Prague a week ago curious about film about Sis made by his brother, David – the brothers suddenly appeared on my diluvial television set in a report from Carlsbad Film Festival. And soon upon return to NYC there is another reminder of Peter Sis’s enduring presence - this beautiful autobiographical presentation, The Wall, at the Czech Center. Sis is a magician – with images everywhere, addressing so many different topics. Here he comments not only on his own life experiences – he is pointing out to events in lives of a generation – and the political events and changes the generation, or two, went through in the latter part 20th Century.
Peter was born in Brno, his father was a filmmaker, mother an artist. He went to Academy of Applied Arts in Prague, studied at the Royal College of Art in London and it was film and animation that captured his attention early on. For one of his animations he won a Golden Bear award at the West Berlin Film Festival in l980. At first Peter was not rebel - but all the ridiculous restrictions the Communist regime imposed on young people made him one. He realized the stupidity and cruelty of the system, that arrested people for wearing jeans and having long hair. His admiration for Beatles music and that of Beach Boys was a catalyst. He played in a kind of a garage band, tried to get tapes of western music and realized more and more that for a creative young person life behind the Iron curtain is impossible. He was a good animator and was send to make a film about the Czech Olympic team to LA in 1982 – Soviet Union pulled out of the Olympics and Peter was ordered to immediately return –and that he did not do. He stayed in California, with no job or money, but with the freedom to do things his way. And he certainly did! After hard beginnings he arrived at a carrier filled with many extraordinary illustrated book and innumerable awards - The McArthur Grant – their Genius award amongst them, number of Awards from The New York Times Review of Books, Boston Globe, several Caldecott Awards - and the Hans Christian Anderson Award for best-illustrated book for children amongst them. It is with pleasure and interest that we can follow complicated journey of this extraordinary artist in the exhibition The Wall. Peter Sis tells his story with humor and empathy – a relief in the present angry world, still filled with too many walls . The exhibition is beautifully installed ready for you enjoyment and contemplation - about the role of artist as a witness to events and a catalyst for positive change."
Peter Sís:
"All people are created equal, all people are created free."
Read about the exhibition on Finebooksmagazine!
Interview with Miroslav Konvalina, the director of Czech Center New York about the exhibition.
