Valoch, Jiří, Karel Miler, J. H. Kocman, Václav Vokolek.

[CONCRETE POETRY IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA – FLUXUS EAST OF JIRI VALOCH] A collection of concrete and experimental poetry in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s–1980s, including works by Jiří Valoch, Karel Miler, J.H. Kocman, and Václav Vokolek.

A substantial collection of 42 works of concrete poetry, documentation of poetic performances, and artist books by the central figures in unofficial and experimental poetry in Communist Czechoslovakia – Jiří Valoch, Karel Miler, J.H. Kocman, and Václav Vokolek. A special highlight of the group is the collection of 30 works of concrete poetry, poetic performances, and artist books by Jiří Valoch (b. 1946), a key figure in unofficial and experimental Czech poetry and art of the 1960s–1980s. The present collection was assembled by the pioneer of concrete poetry in Poland, Stanisław Dróżdż, with most materials traceable to specific curatorial or publishing projects. The works of J.H. Kocman and Václav Vokolek in the collection likely go back to the exhibition of Czech and Slovak concrete poetry which Dróżdż organised in 1976. The substantial collection of materials by Jiří Valoch was likely used in his solo exhibition which Dróżdż organised in Wrocław in 1979. A solo exhibition of Václav Vokolek was held in Wrocław in the same year, with a brochure for the solo show also included in this collection. Many of the works in this collection are signed and dated by the artists, with some including a dedication to Dróżdż. Item #55777

I. Jiří Valoch

A collection of 30 works of concrete poetry, poetic performances, and artist books by Jiří Valoch (b. 1946), a key figure in unofficial and experimental Czech poetry and art of the 1960s–1980s. A conceptual artist working in visual poetry, photographic poetry, text installations, mail art, and organizing numerous unofficial art exhibitions, Valoch’s place in the Czechoslovak art world was similar to that of Stanisław Dróżdż in the Polish context. Like Dróżdż, Valoch studied philology. He started creating visual poetry in 1963, earlier than Dróżdż, likely because the form was better known in Czechoslovakia which had a relatively more open cultural environment until Prague Spring of 1968. Valoch would eventually graduate from Masaryk University in Brno, with a thesis on visual poetry in 1971. Starting in 1972, Valoch worked as a curator at The House of Arts in Brno. After the Prague Spring and throughout the 1970s, the political climate would shift and Poland would come to have the more culturally liberal environment. As a result, throughout the 1970s Valoch would present his work more often abroad, taking part in the Fluxus movement, publishing books with Something Else Press and other projects with Dick Higgins, George Brecht, and George Maciunas. He also exhibited in Brazil, Germany, and Poland throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Valoch’s first solo exhibition in Poland was held at Jarosław Kozłowski’s Akumulatory Gallery in Poznań in 1974, followed by an exhibition organized by Józef Robakowski, in Łódź in 1976. Stanisław Dróżdż curated an exhibition of Czech and Slovak concrete poetry in Wrocław in 1976, which included the works of Valoch. Dróżdż would also curate a solo show of Valoch in 1979, with many of these works likely brought to Poland for these exhibitions. According to the art historian Helena Musilova, it was the rich exchange with Poland in these years that inspired Valoch to organise the 1980 exhibition Contemporary Czech Drawing (Soucasna ceska kresba) which caused a scandal, and resulted in a ban on his domestic publishing (See: Helena Musilova, “Současná česká kresba [Contemporary Czech Drawing]: Jiří Valoch and the Possibility of Organizing a Collective Exhibition during the so-called Normalization Period”, in Notebook for Art, 2019). The ban would lead Valoch to publish unofficially, and to distribute his work abroad and underground.

The works of Jiří Valoch are held by international private and public collections including The Centre Pompidou, The Ludwig Museum, Tate Modern, and The Stedelijk Museum among many others.

II. Karel Miler

Two cycles of concrete poetry by the Czech conceptual artist Karel Miler (1940–2025). Miler started writing visual poetry in the 1960s, while working as a lighting technician alongside Václav Havel at the Na Zábradlí theater. Consisting of a list of color names – pink, black, gold, green – arranged in a variety of shapes, the two poetic cycles seem closely tied to his work in lighting design. Miler would move away from visual poetry by the early 1970s and is best known for his performance works, which he created direct-to-photography with action artists Petr Štembera and Jan Mlčoch. Unable to exhibit these works in Czechoslovakia, the artists sent the photographs to conceptualist galleries in Western Europe. A number of these documented performances, as well as one artist book, are held by the Centre Pompidou. Stanisław Dróżdż curated an exhibition of Czech and Slovak concrete poetry in Wrocław in 1976, with the present works likely sent by Miler for this exhibition.

III. J.H. Kocman

One early artist book and one piece of Mail Art by the Czech conceptualist artist Jiří Hynek Kocman (b.1947). In the late 1960s, Kocman officially studied veterinary medicine, while unofficially studying aesthetics with the master of Czech visual poetry, Jiří Valoch. A prolific artist, Kocman was active in the mail art movement in the 1970s, and is also often mentioned as one of the animators of Fluxus East. Kocman’s artist books date back to 1970, with hand-made paper and use of rubber stamps as typical features, juxtaposing the uniquely made and the serially reproduced. The present work plays with notions of authenticity and uniqueness – concerns central to artistic production – by presenting an unbound stack of seven loose leaves assembled in a folder, each leaf hand made with a large watermark in the center. The pages are also rubber stamped with statements such as “yes, I am J.H.Kocman” and signed by hand. Clearly intended for an international audience, most of Kocman’s works from this period are in English. His later exploration of authorship and uniqueness of artistic production would lead to his creating artist book objects by pulping individual books such as Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and re-assembling a new book object from the pulped material, with no text remaining from the original. Stanisław Dróżdż curated an exhibition of Czech and Slovak concrete poetry in Wrocław in 1976, with the present works likely sent by Kocman for the exhibition.

IV. Václav Vokolek

A collection of six printed artist books and exhibition brochures by Václav Vokolek (b. 1947), a Czech artist working at the intersection of visual and text art. The introduction by the master of Czech concrete poetry, Jiří Valoch, claims the work of Vokolek to be “the most interesting and innovative Czech implementation in the field of visual poetry” and traces his work to that of the Dadaists. Stanisław Dróżdż curated an exhibition of Czech and Slovak concrete poetry in Wrocław in 1976, establishing close relationships with the artists, including Vokolek. A solo exhibition of his work was finally held in Wrocław in 1979, with the brochure for the exhibition included in the collection.

Inquire for the complete list of included works.

Price: €25,500.00

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