Exhibition Bohemia

Exhibition Bohemia: The Story of a Phenomenon, 1950-2000. Since its inception in Paris in the mid-19th century, the idea of bohemia has been an influential and enduring part of artistic identity. Although people involved in the arts have always had a reputation for living outside of social norms, it was then and there that this lifestyle was first adopted systematically and romanticized. The concept of bohemianism quickly took hold internationally and after the Second World War it appeared in many different places around the world.

Interested in more? Don’t miss the opportunity of a guided tour of the exhibition on 22.03.2023 with curator Russell Ferguson from 7pm in English.

Bohemia will bring together works by thirty-seven artists, including such diverse figures as Alice Neel, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nan Goldin, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Bijan Saffari, Martin Wong, Stan Douglas, David Wojnarowicz, Roy Arden and many others. Some of these artists will be appearing in a group exhibition for the first time. For most of them, their works have rarely been seen in the Czech Republic before. The exhibition covers the period from the 1950s to the early 2000s and includes various media, mainly photography, video and painting. The kaleidoscopic experience ends at the turn of the century, when bohemia – though still a worldwide phenomenon – begins to lose momentum due to rapid social change.

Ever since its birth in mid-19th century Paris, the idea of bohemianism has been an important component of artistic identity. Bohemia as a region, or Bohemia in Latin, lent its name to a cultural movement and lifestyle. Its values have always been based on devotion to art in its various forms, the acceptance of full freedom, the rejection of work and conventional ambition, even at the cost of poverty.

“Among the inherent characteristics of bohemia is that it was formed in reaction to bourgeois society. First the middle class must establish itself, only then can its values be rejected. And although artists even before had a reputation for living outside social norms, it was not until mid-19th century Paris that this way of life became fully established and romanticised,” explains curator Russell Ferguson.

Exhibiting artists: Neville D’Almeida and Hélio Oiticica, Roy Arden, David Bailey, Alvin Baltrop, Bill Brandt, Trisha Brown, Rudy Burckhardt, John Deakin, Stan Douglas, Ed van der Elsken, Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, William Gedney, Nan Goldin, Tomislav Gotovac, Bob Gruen, Richard Hamilton, Peter Hujar, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Jess, Patricia Jordan, Jules Kirschenbaum, Jorge Lewinski, Fred W. McDarrah, Babette Mangolte, Alice Neel, Gabriel Orozco, Bill Owens, RongRong, Ken Russell, Bijan Saffari, Joan Semmel, Anita Steckel, Thomas Struth, Edmund Teske, Wolfgang Tillmans, Wang Jin, David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong, Zhang Huan.

Place: Klárov 5, Malá Strana, Czech Republic
Date: from 23.03. 2023-16.10.2023
Gallery opening hours:
Mon: 11.00-19.00
Tue: closed
Wed: 11.00-21.00
Thu-Sun: 11.00-19.00

Price: 0- 180 CZK

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