Exhibition Review: František Vobecký at Ubu Gallery
Courtesy of Ubu Gallery New York.
Ubu Gallery, founded in 1994 and dedicated to avant-garde art from the 20th Century, has opened its doors to showcase the works of František Vobecký (b. 1902–1991) from Jan. 8 to Feb. 26, 2020. František Vobecký: Photomontages 1935-1938 is a collection of photomontages the artist created during that period, presented in a context of Surrealist-inspired Czech art. Besides Czech avant-garde, Ubu Gallery is notable for displaying Romanian and Polish artists who operated during the 1920s and 30s within Dada, Constructivism and Surrealist movements.
Vobecký, who started as a painter after studying drawing in Prague and Paris, took up on photography to take images of his paintings. Later, he began taking photographs of ordinary objects such as rocks and sculptures, and soon he began photographing household items. Vobecký's photomontages reflect on that period, as the images on display at Ubu Gallery often include the ordinary household still-life objects. However, as his art becomes more fascinating, Vobecký fuses the common cutlery with abstract landscapes and the soft lines of a female body.
Courtesy of Ubu Gallery New York.
The artist's images and the gallery interior greatly complement each other; being a quiet, elegant space with dim light, Ubu Gallery sets the right tone for Vobecký's photomontages. After viewing the first images located on the ground floor, which include the typical household items like needles and knives, the viewer is invited to go downstairs. There, the tone of the photographs changes. Somehow, even with the use of objects usually seen as harsh, Vobecký's montages seem gentle and thoughtful nevertheless. A rock is placed next to a glass, in which a delicate female foot is going down. Then, a knife penetrates a man and a woman – an image usually deemed violent, yet the artist manages to make it sensual, provoking a feeling that is an opposite of aggression.
Courtesy of Ubu Gallery New York.
Vobecký continues infiltrating his montages with feminine subjects, from roses to pieces of sculptures and butterflies. The same image of a woman, laying horizontally with her torso in the picture reoccurs throughout many of his pieces, intensifying the sensitivity of the montages.
Courtesy Ubu Gallery New York.
In the end of the exhibit, the viewers are given a pleasant surprise the form of images that seem different from the rest of the display. As a part of his photomontage explorations, Vobecký has created images that are hard to distinguish from classic paintings. He photographed Victorian etchings, statues, and his own paintings, and the used them as a part of a larger photomontage artwork.The results are astonishing, as the outcomes of such experiments are distinct from his other works, and are even more captivating to the eye.
