This is how the World Repays…
A film portrait of the artist Pavel Vošický
Pavel Vošický is a political animal to an almost unbearable degree and much less an “artist” in the conventional sense of the word. He hesitated to exhibit his work because he does not believe that his images, their communications and sentiments (especially his moderated anger), could be understood by anyone else. He is correct that life uniquely defies definition via general historical patterns. Ideology and its various regimes, just like the state school machine, require an asexual “history” — a history about everyone and no one. Within the context of such an interpretation of history, the opinion of a genuinely independent person can be perceived as a conspiracy, sabotage and general imbalance. Vošický grew up and persevered in conspiracies, sabotage and general imbalance. Thank God!
He went to jail at the beginning of the 1960s for public and straightforward proclamations of “hatred for the socialist regime,” an offence he had probably been committing since childhood. For the same offense he was sent to work with other politically unreliable elements in Bory. But for the same reason, he was accepted to by the president of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Adolf Hoffmeister who was himself a clever and nimble footed Communist.
Vošický emigrated after 1968 and in America worked both politically and artistically in senatorial and presidential campaigns. One could call him a successful campaign art director. In addition he studied in Washington libraries and discussed his outwardly both bizarre and realistic theories with anyone who would listen — including various well-known specialists as well as eyewitnesses to unique historical events. From all of this he put together his unique testimony to his times, which often changed based on newly acquired pieces of information. Adhering to no system, he faithfully observed and followed reality.
Excerpt from a text by David Oesterreicher published in the catalogue for Pavel Vošický’s exhibition in 2014. Both the exhibition and the catalogue are on the web.
(available only in Czech language)
