Věra Jirousová

Věra Jirousová belongs to the generation of art historians who studied art history during the second half of the 1960s. Already during her studies she started to focus on contemporary western art including the work of Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein, French New Realism or American Pop-Art that were exhibited in Prague in the late 1960s.

At that time she also started to spend time with the artistic association Křižovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu (Crusaders School of Pure Humour without a Joke) (KŠ). In 1967 she started to work with the music groups The Primitives Group and The Plastic People of the Universe (PPU). Together with her husband, Ivan Jirous, she organized, in their Prague apartment, seminars on art history and the contemporary American music scene for the members of the PPU. Together with artist Zora Ságlová and photographer Jan Ságl, the Jirous’ also created the visual image of their concert performances, for example at the I. and II. Czechoslovakian Beat Festival in 1967 and 1968, at the events Fish Feast (1968) and Bird Feast (1969), which often had the form of happenings. Back then Ivan Jirous compared the work of The Primitives Group to the direction of the art group Zero (Ivan Jirous, Mesaliance či zásnuby mezi beatovou hudbou a výtvarným uměním? (Misalliance or Engagement between Beat Music and Fine Art?), Výtvarná práce, 1968, no. 3, pg. 8).

During the 1960s Věra Jirousová started to write poetry and she wrote several texts for the early work of PPU (The Song of Fafejta Bird About Two Unearthly Worlds, 1970, The Unicorn, 1970, translated by Paul Wilson). Her poetry style, which she herself perceived as “searching for the meaning of a word through visual images”, differed from the then rough underground poetry with her lyricism, fragility, fantasy worlds, relating to nature and mythology. Her interest in nature, mysticism and eastern religion later manifested in her work as a curator (Zemi, České muzeum výtvarných umění, 1993; Hluboká tajemnost TAO, Gallery Lidice, 2008).

She spent time with the artistic circle of Jiří Kolář and theoretician Jiří Padrta, thanks to whom she started working for the magazine Výtvarná práce at the end of the 1960s. She was in charge of the international news column, which was primarily about action and conceptual art, until the time the magazine’s activities were stopped in 1971. She published several articles in this magazine but the most important one was Příklad post moderny (Example of Post-Modernism) (Výtvarná práce 1970, no. 5, pp. 1, 6).  In this article, Jirousová tried to depict the situation of post-modernism in Czech art through a reaction to literary critic, Leslie A. Feidler’s lecture “The Case for Post-Modernism” about literary post-modernism in the context of American Literature (Leslie A. Fiedler, Doba nové literatury. Indiáni, Science-fiction a pornografie: Budoucnost románu již začala, Orientace 1969, vol. 4., no. 3; 4, pp. 69-74; 50- 56) In her article, she, following Fiedler’s model, distanced herself from inwardness, rationality and the right for truth, which were typical for modernism art, and she perceived post-modern art primarily as the legitimization of pop-culture and the abolishment of the border between high and mass culture, between the artist and the viewer. In addition to Kája Saudek’s comics and science fiction, Jirousová saw signs of post-modernism in the work of music groups including Aktual, The Primitives Group, The Plastic People of the Universe, as well as in actions of KŠ and Zorka Ságlová, which were characteristic for their collective authorship.

She was primarily interested in contemporary art: “We did not want to be specialized art historians since we were primarily interested in the work that was being created at that time, and in those who bear the current expression. So we would not to end up sitting in some office or institution for the creation of non-being, as I like to say.” (Kantůrková 1980: 91).

In the 1970s she participated in land art actions of Zorka Ságlová (Házení míčů do průhonického rybníka Bořín (Throwing Balls in Bořín Lake in Průhonice), 1969; Kladení plín u Sudoměře (Laying Down Nappies Near Sudoměř), 1970; Pocta Gustavu Obermanovi (Homage to Gustav Oberman), 1970; Pocta Fafejtovi (Homege to Fafejt), 1972) and happenings of Křižovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu (Výstup severní stěnou Řípu (Climbing the North Face of Říp), 1970; Buzení blanických rytířů (Waking of the Blanik Knights), 1974; Pocta Bedřichu Smetanovi (Homage to Bedřich Smetana) , 1974). Jirousová retrospectively reflected the work of this artistic circle in her texts and exhibitions in the 1990s (exhibitions K. Š.: Křižovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu, Středočeská Gallery, 1991; Informální kresby a koláže Jana Steklíka (Informal Drawings and Collages of Jan Steklík), Středočeská Gallery 1991; Karel Nepraš a Jan Steklík: ředitelé K. Š. (Karel Nepraš and Jan Steklík: Directors of  K. Š.), Václav Špála Gallery, 1994; Bedřich Dlouhý: autoportrét (Bedřich Dlouhý: Self Portrait 1999) Gallery Nova Sin, 1999; Otakar Slavík. Obrazy z Vídně (Otakar Slavík. Pictures from Vienna), Felix Jenewein Gallery), 2003; Šmidrové, Šternberk Gallery, 2005)

Between the years 1971 and 1975 she worked at the Institute of Art History, Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in the bibliography department. Thanks to Jiří Padrta who had excellent contacts in the French environment, she processed entries about 19^th and 20^th centuries Czech art for the Larousse dictionary that was published in Paris in 1977 (she had included artists such as František Kupka, Josef Šíma, Toyen, Václav Boštík, Jiří Kolář, Karel Malich, Robert Piesen, Mikuláš Medek, and others).

Jirousová belonged to the fellowship of people of the Prague underground. In 1976 in the trial with the group The Plastic People of the Universe she took minutes from the trials and informed about them (Hnědá kniha o procesech s českým undergroundem (The Brown Book about the Czech Underground Trials) , Prague, 2012). After signing Charta 77, which she signed in the first wave, she was not allowed to work in her profession until 1989.

Under the new conditions, Jirousová continued to try to pursue activities in her profession. At the end of the 1970s she was offered a scholarship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Her texts circulated in Samizdat (e.g. the introductory text to the unofficial exhibition of Pavel Blattny, interview with Jana Jonakova). She published the text Perská říše je v troskách: Imperium persicum est deletum (The Persian Empire is a Wreck: Imperium persicum est deletum (Svědectví (Testimony) 1980, no. 62, pp. 237-242) about the work of Eugen Brikcius and the collective exhibition in the apartment of Pavel Brunnhofer in Naplavni Street in the exile periodical Svědectví (Testimony). She organized several “exhibitions” of Bohuslav Reynek that consisted of looking at his graphics and reading his poetry in a limited circle of friends.

She was engaged in spreading and copying samizdat texts (Edition Expedition). She cooperated with the underground magazine Vokno (Window) (1979–1989), which was one of the few samizdat periodicals that was also devoted to fine arts. She published several articles there (Koncert Plastic People na počest roku Ladislava Klímy (Concert of the Plastic People in the Honour of the Year of Ladislav Klíma, Vokno 1980, no. 3, pp. 2–5; V Praze na Kampě je hrob Johna Lennona… (John Lennon’s Grave Is in Prague’s Kampa), Vokno 1981, no. 5, pp. 19–21) and she did the editorial preparation for the issue devoted to the movement Fluxus (Jindřich Chalupecký, Fluxus; Eugen Brikcius, Scénář happeningu „Časová konfrontace” (Screenplay of the Happening “Time Confrontation”); Francois Pluchart, Body art; Allan Kaprow, O performance (About Performance); Milan Knížák, Performance jako vývoj i jako degenerace(Performance As a Development As Well As Degeneration) Vokno 1981, no. 4), To Jiří Němec (Vokno 1979, no. 2) and To John Lennoni (Vokno 1981, no. 5)).

She published her poetry in anthologies including Milý příteli… Egonu Bondymu k 45. narozeninám –Invalidní sourozenci(Dear Friend… To Egon Bondy for His 45^th Birthday – Disabled Siblings) (ed. Ivan M. Jirous, Prague, 1975), Nějakej vodnatelnej papírovej člověk. Jiřímu Němcovi k jeho pětačtyřicátým narozeninám a Martinu Jirousovi k jeho návratu z Mírova (Some Anasarcous Paper Person. To Jiří Němec for His 45^th Birthday and To Martin Jirous For His Return from Mírov (ed. David Souček, Prague, 1977), Básnící pražského underground (Poets of the Prague Underground) (ed. Egon Bondy, Prague, 1986). She also published in samizdat and exile periodicals including Spektrum, Most (Bridge), Paternoster, Obsah (Content) and Svědectví (Testimony). Her poetry collection Co je tu – co tu není (What Is Here – What Is Not Here) (poems from the years 1964 –1975) was published in Edice Expedice (Prague v. no. 28, 1977) and Petlice (Prague, vol. no. 113, 1977). She published her collection Kde tady jsem(Where I Am Here) (poems from 1976–86) in Edice Expedice (Prague, vol. no. 263, 1987). Furthermore, her essay Památce Bohuslava Reynka (In Memory of Bohuslav Reynek) about the poet’s anthology Odlet vlaštovek (The Swallows’ Departure) (1969–1971) was published in the samizdat anthology Spektrum (Spektrum 1978, issue 1, pp. 94–107).

During the 1980s, under constant pressure from the State Security, she moved with her family from Prague being part of the project Asanace (Rehabilitation). She lived in a commune in Mastířovice near Litoměřice. In 1984 she moved to Kostelní Vydří in the Czech-Moravian Highlands. Here she worked on a farm. At that time she had 12 cats, a cow, a horse, a goat, a pig, rabbits, chickens and a dog.

Following November 1989 she returned to work in her profession. At first she worked for the editorial offices of the periodicals Ateliér (1990–1991) and Výtvarné umění (1992–1993). In 1994 she transferred to the fine art section of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, following which she worked for the cultural column of the daily newspaper Lidové noviny (1995–1998).  Then she was employed by the National Gallery Prague in the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art (1999–2000) and in the Památník národního písemnictví (Museum of National Literature) (2001–2003). She also had her articles published in periodicals including Metropolitan, Iniciály, Týden, Respekt, Souvislosti, Divadelní noviny, Literární noviny, MF Dnes, Architekt, Host, Labyrint revue, Slovo, and Salon Práva.   

During the 1990, she processed the entries for the Dictionary of Czech Fine Art published by the Institute of Art History, the Czech Academy of Science. In her curator and art critic role she did not step outside of the theory frame and she did not formulate any art programs. In her rather journalistic texts and reviews of current exhibitions and introductions to exhibitions she stuck to her motto “unknown artists should be written about, the known ones don’t need it”. She focused her attention on solitaires who stood outside of artistic groups of their generation (Pavel Reisenauer, Igor Korpaczewski, Antonín Střížek, Vladimír Kokolia, Martin Mainer, Jiří Petrbok), and on the older, formerly “forbidden generation” (Mikuláš Medek, Jan Koblasa). At the same time, she was interested in the wave of artists emerging in the 1990s (Ján Mančuška, Zbyněk Baladrán, Jan Šerých) and as one of the few art critics of her generation, she was interested in the current art scene.

Already since the 1960s she considered the work of female artists such as Hana Wichterlová, Olga Karlíková, Zorka Ságlová or the Válova sisters as very important. Following the year 1989, she pursued the topic of “female art” and the emancipation of women in her articles (opinion poll Žádné ženské umění neexistuje (Female Art Does Not Exist), Výtvarné umění 1993, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 42–52; Velký malý králík Zorky Ságlové (Big Little Rabbit of Zorka Saglova), Výtvarné umění 1993, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 22–32). She organized exhibitions Femme fatale (Sankturinovský dům, Kutná Hora, 2001), Alena Kotzmannová: Klasika (Galerie Šternberk, 2007), Jitka Svobodová: Kresby a objekty (Drawings and Objects) (Gallery Šternberk, 2006), Olga Karlíková: Vznášení. Obrazy a kresby (Olga Karlíková: Levitating, Paintings and Drawings) (Gallery Šternberk, 2005).

Věra Jirousová’s characteristic interest has always been in the connection between fine art, poetry and music. A key personality for her has been Bohuslav Reynek whom she met for the first time during the 1960s and whose work she has been returning to all her life. Her diploma work in 1970 was titled Grafika a poezie Bohuslava Reynka (Graphics and Poetry of Bohuslav Reynek). At the meeting of poets and writers at the Bítov Castle Slovo na konci milénia – Česká poezie dnes (A Word at the End of the Millenium – Czech Poetry Today) she delivered a contribution Básně na pohyblivých schodech – památce Bohuslava Reynka (Poems on Moving Stairs – in Memory of Bohuslav Reynek). In the year 2000 she organized the exhibition Bohuslav Reynek 1872–1971: Co zemí jest a co již není. Grafické dílo z let 1930–1970 Bohuslav Reynek 1872–1971: What Is and What No Longer Is a Country. Graphic Works from the Years 1930–1970 (Vlašský dvůr, Kutná Hora) and two years later she also organized the exhibition Bohuslav Reynek: Pieta v loďce (Piety in a Boat) (Památník národního písemnictví, letohrádek Hvězda).

Jirousová also accomplished to interconnect fine art and literary contexts for example at the exhibition Vladimír Holan: Noční hlídka srdce (Night Watch of the Heart) (Památník národního písemnictví, letohrádek Hvězda, 2005). She wrote epilogues to original fairytale books including Jiří Černický’s About Anemone. Documents from a fairy-tale (Praha, 2005) and Petr Nikl’s O Rybabě a Mořské duši (About Rybana and the Sea Soul) (Praha, 2002).

With respect to books, she published a collection of poems Co je tu, co tu není (What Is, What Isn’t Here) (Torst, Praha 1996), a book of poems in prose Krajina před bouří (Landscape Before a Storm) (Publishing House Lidové noviny, Praha 1998) containing illustrations of reproductions of Igor Korpaczewski’s works and a collection of nine poems Podle řeky (According to the River) (edition Pupilla, Spolek českých bibliofilů (Society of Czech Bibliophiles), Praha 2003).

In the year 2013 the Věra Jirousová Award for young and established fine art critics was named after her. 

1963–1970
Art History, Philosophical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

2009–2011
Deník Referendum, vedoucí výtvarné rubriky od 2003
na volné noze 2001–2003
Památník národního písemnictví 1999–2000
Národní galerie v Praze, Sbírka moderního umění 1995–1998
Lidové noviny, redakce kultury 1994–1995
Ministerstvo kultury ČR, odbor umění 1992–1993
časopis Výtvarné umění 1990–1991
časopis Ateliér 1971–1975
Ústav teorie a dějin umění ČSAV, oddělení bibliografie 1967–1971
časopis Výtvarná práce (externě)

2008
Hluboká tajemnost Tao, Lidice: Galerie Lidice 2007
Alena Kotzmannová: Klasika, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk 2006
Sigmund Freud 1856-1939. Život ~ Sen, Praha: Rakouské kulturní fórum – Staroměstská radnice v Praze
Jitka Svobodová, Kresby a objekty, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk
Setkání. Inge Kosková a Romana Rotterová, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk (společně s Michalem Kalhousem) 2005
Šmidrové. Bedřich Dlouhý, Jan Koblasa, Karel Nepraš, Jaroslav Vožniak, Rudolf Komorous, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk (kurátor a úvodní slovo Věra Jirousová)
Místa paměti. Mezinárodní umělecké sympozium, výstava účastníků, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk (kurátoři výstavy Ladislav Daněk, Věra Jirousová, Felix Schenker)
Olga Karlíková. Vznášení, obrazy a kresby, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk
Šmidrové na Bítově – Jednou Šmidrou, Šmidrou navěky, Praha: Galerie Atrium
Noční hlídka srdce. Vladimír Holan (1905-1979), Praha: Památník národního písemnictví – Letohrádek Hvězda
Olga Karlíková. Křídla – Země, Praha: Galerie Atrium
Bohuslav Reynek, Otevírám do tmy, Telč: Městská galerie Hasičský dům 2004
Jitka Anlaufová, V prostoru, Šternberk: Galerie Šternberk 2003
Otakar Slavík: Obrazy z Vídně, Kutná Hora: Galerie Felixe Jeneweina
Dagmar Hochová, Ostrava: Galerie Magna 2002
Bohuslav Reynek: Pieta v loďce, Praha: Památník národního písemnictví – Letohrádek Hvězda
Ivan Pinkava: TNF, Praha: Ateliér Josefa Sudka 2001
Otakar Slavík. Obrazy, Praha: Míčovna Pražského hradu
Femme Fatale, Kutná Hora: Sankturinovský dům 2000
Na volné téma…, ale k věci (Daniel Balabán, Alena Kotzmannová, Adéla Matasová, Jan Merta, Pavel Kopřiva, Igor Korpaczewski, Petr Lysáček, Jiří Petrbok, Míla Preslová, Zorka Ságlová, Janka Vidová, Dezider Tóth), Praha: Galerie Václava Špály
Bohuslav Reynek 1872-1971: Co zemí jest a co již není. Grafické dílo z let 1930-1970, Kutná Hora: Vlašský dvůr 1994
Karel Nepraš a Jan Steklík. Ředitelé výstavy k neznámému výročí Křižovnické školy čistého humoru bez vtipu, Praha: Středočeská galerie 1993
Zemi (Olga Karlíková, Miloš Šejn, Milan Maur, Marian Palla), Praha: České muzeum výtvarných umění
Skupina Svárov (Michal Bouzek, Vladimír Kafka, Vojtěch Míča, Milan Perič, Šárka Trčková, Jan Vágner), Plzeň: Masné krámy
Ďábli v naší duši, v našem těle, Praha: Galerie u Řečických (společně s Markem Pokorným) 1991
Jiří Načeradský: Černý most, Brno: Unie výtvarných umělců – Galerie Jaroslava Krále
Dana Puchnarová, Neviditelná krajina (Země, voda, kameny), Olomouc: M. U. K. L.
Informální kresby a koláže Jana Steklíka, Praha: Středočeská galerie
K. Š.: Křižovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu, Praha: Středočeská galerie

výběr

2005

Vladimír Holan, Noční hlídka srdce, Památník národního písemnictví, Praha (s A. Petruželkovou)

Šmidrové (B. Dlouhý, J. Koblasa, K. Nepraš, J. Vožniak, R. Komorous), Fontána, Olomouc

2002

Bohuslav Reynek. Pieta v loďce. Památník národního písemnictví, Praha (kolektiv autorů)