Emancipation: The Paintings of Eva Švankmajerová
Frieze Masters, Regent's Park, London [Spotlight S8]
09.10.24 > 13.10.24
The Gallery of Everything is proud to announce the acquisition of Spící Venouš (Sleeping Venus) 1969, by Tate for it's permanent collection. This was made possible, thanks to the Frieze Tate Fund, with the support of the Museum of Everything.
Eva Švankmajerová (née Dvořáková) (1940 - 2005) was a painter, scenographer, designer, puppeteer, poet and writer. Known primarily for her collaborations with her husband – the award-winning filmmaker and artist Jan Švankmajer - it is Švankmajerová’s lifetime painting practice which deserves urgent re-appraisal.
Heavily influenced by popular and folkloric imagery, Švankmajerová‘s initial subject-matter was provocative. Her infamous Emancipačním Cyklem (Emancipation Cycle) (1967/69) satirised male-gaze masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli, Édouard Manet and Peter Paul Rubens, replacing idealised female figures with emasculated men.
Recent and current exhibitions include Move Little Hands, Move! (2020) at Kunsthalle Im Lippsiusbau (Dresden) and Disegno Interno (2024/25) at GASK (Kutná Hora) and Rothko Museum (Daugavpils). A retrospective at DOX centre for Contemporary Art (Prague) is scheduled for 2025. Collections include the Museum of Art (Olomouc) and the National Gallery (Prague).
At Frieze Masters 2024, The Gallery of Everything will present selected works from Švankmajerová's breakthrough series, Emancipačním Cyklem (Emancipation Cycle) (1967/69).