Milan Knížák: Broken Mind | exhibition

ExhibitionCella Gallery and Hovorny, Opava

MILAN KNÍŽÁK: BROKEN MIND
March 7th – April 18th 2024
Cella Gallery, Matiční 4, Opava
The opening will take place on Thursday, March 7th at 6PM at Cella Gallery on Matiční Street.

curator: Jakub Frank
collaboration: Petr Studený

In the years 2024–2025, Bludný kámen prepares a series of exhibitions dedicated to leading European sound artists with an emphasis on the pioneering and early experimental approaches of artists from the older and middle generations. In Cella Gallery and Hovorny, we will introduce sound works by Milan Knížák, Hans Peter Kuhn, Peter Ablinger, Katalin Ladik, Paul Panhuysen in solo exhibitions. Concurrently, we invite figures from the sound art scene and musicians from the younger generation who will prepare interpretations, reactions, or dialogues with the works presented at the exhibitions as part of accompanying events.

Milan Knížák (*1940) has been an active participant in artistic and social events since the 1960s. The beginnings of his career, which also include the works presented at the Broken Mind exhibition, can be considered exceptional not only in Czechoslovakia but also in an international context. Knížák’s innovative approach to music and sound, active connection with the Fluxus movement, and compositional activities all led to his proper recognition on the international art scene. His work from the 1980s and 1990s can be seen as a specific contribution to artistic postmodernism, where Knížák, among other things, connects fine art with fashion or furniture design. Knížák’s post-revolutionary activities are closely linked to publicly exposed roles, where he first held the position of rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and subsequently director of the National Gallery. Activities from this period make him a kind of specter of the Czech art scene, and criticism of Milan Knížák’s activities becomes the subject of several artistic projects. Knížák is still an active creator, composer, and writer. In recent years, his public activities (and partly his artistic work) are difficult to separate from the declining conservative right-wing expressions of the political establishment. In addition to Knížák’s own artistic and compositional activities, the period after 2014 is supplemented by his collaborations with Prague musicians Phaerentz and Opening Performance Orchestra, who focus on interpreting Knížák’s early musical and artistic works. Bludný kámen has been dedicated to Milan Knížák’s sound work for a long time; the performance of Broken Music with Phaerentz was presented at the Pohyb–Zvuk–Prostor festival in 2013, and the Aktual University program with Opening Performance Orchestra at PZP 2019.

The exhibition at the Cella Gallery will focus on Knížák’s work associated with sound, primarily addressing his iconic cycle Broken Music and further his conceptual scores and performance instructions. It will present his earliest works, pieces associated with the Aktual group, and the Fluxus movement. Through sound recordings and documentation, the exhibition will also showcase the aforementioned collaborations with musicians and musical ensembles.

The exhibition will be open from Tuesday to Thursday, 9AM to 5PM.