Emila Medková

Emila Medková, née Emila Tláskalová (19 November 1928 – 19 September 1985) was a Czech photographer, one of the important exponents of the Czech art photography in the second half of the 20th century.[1] Her work was influenced by Surrealism.[2] She was the wife of painter Mikuláš Medek.

Biography

Medková was born in Ústí nad Orlicí. Her father was a typographer and her mother was a seamstress. The family moved to Prague, where, in 1942, Emila began to attend the class of the landscape photographer Josef Ehm at a specialized photography school in the Smíchov district of Prague.[3]

Her work has been directly linked to Surrealism. In the early period, she joined a circle of young artists centered around Karel Teige.[4] From 1947 to 1951, she and Mikuláš Medek created collections of staged photographs. She married him on 12 September 1951. From the early 1950s, she focused on creating several loosely overlapping thematic cycles that went through her whole career, up to her death. At the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, she became a leading exponent of the Czech Informel photography.[5] Although she found inspiration mainly in Prague, she created extensive photographic cycles of Paris (1966) and Italy (1967).[6] The life and work of Medková were covered in a monograph designed by art historians Karel Srp and Lenka Bydžovská, curators of her first comprehensive exhibition, held in 2001.

Medková gave only one interview in her life. It was initiated by the renowned art historian Anna Fárová and published in 1976 in the magazine Československá fotografie (Czechoslovak Photography).

After the death of her husband (Medek died in 1974), she suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed. She died in Prague.

"Czechoslovak Photography From 1915 to the 1960s"

From June 10, 1992 through August 31, 1992 the Jacques Baruch Gallery in Chicago showed an exhibit called "Czechoslovak Photography From 1915 to the 1960s.” It showed 90 images by 16 photographers with a range of renown and obscurity. Emila Medkova is significant in that she was the only female entry in this male-dominated show.[7]

Solo exhibitions

Photorgaphs of Emila Medková at Václav Špála Gallery, 2011.

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Emila Medkova exhibition". Czech Radio. 16 December 2001. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Fijałkowski, Krzysztof (Autumn 2005). "Emila Medková: The Magic of Despair". Tate Papers. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Chuchma, Josef. "Kolik toho vydrží žena" (in Czech). Slovensko-český klub. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Fronczak Rogers, Mimi (19 August 2009). "Writing on the wall. Signs and symbols in the detritus of Stalinist-era Prague". The Prague Post. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Karlovy Vary vystavují práce Mikuláše a Emily Medkových" (in Czech). Týden. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Galerie umění v K. Varech představuje nepřetržitý dialog manželů Medkových". Czech Television (in Czech). ČT24. 10 March 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "4 galleries present a cornucopia of group shows". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing Company LLC. July 10, 1992. ISSN 1085-6706.

Further reading

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