Jiří Valoch
Jiří Valoch (6 September 1946, Brno, Czechoslovakia, now Czechia) is an art historian, curator, artist and poet. He graduated in Czech and German studies and aesthetics from the Faculty of Philosophy at the Masaryk University in Brno (1965-1970), with a thesis on the development and typology of visual and sound poetry. He has created visual poetry since 1963 and exhibited since 1966. By the end of the 1960s Valoch got closely engaged with concrete poetry and conceptual art. In 1968 he organised the Computer Graphic art exhibition in Brno, which travelled to Jihlava and Gottwaldov (now Zlín). From 1968-1972 he was a member of the Klub konkretistů (Concretists' Club). From 1972-2001 he worked as a curator at The House of Arts in Brno (Dom umění města Brna), preparing exhibitions of Czech artists (V. Boštík, Milan Knížák, Vladimír Boudník, J. Kolář, B. Kolářová, A. Šimotová, L. Novák), after 1990 also international artists (R. P. Lahnse, G. Graser, R. Mieldsam, R. Barry). After organising the exhibition Contemporary Czech Drawing he was forbidden to publish. Starting in the early 1970s he was involved in organising unofficial exhibitions across Czechoslovakia. Valoch was also a member of the Brno section of the Klub konkretistů 2 (from 1997) and the TT Klub of Creative Artists and Theoreticians (from 1991). He lives in Brno.
Works
Documents
Publications
- Hlas/Voice/Voix/Stimme/Hlas, London: Writers Forum, 1966, [21] leaves; 2nd ed., 1967. (English)
- Optical Poem [Nine Optical Poems], London: Writers Forum, 1967, [10] leaves.
- editor, Computer Graphic, Brno: Dům umění města Brna, 1968, 16 pp. Catalogue. (Czech)
- 3 texts to Juan Hidalgo and Zaj Friends: zaj but not zaj, make zaj not war, zaj is also better then zaj, Brno, 1968, [1] sheet. Artist book.
- 8 Sonnets: I Have Forgotten the Song, Toronto: Ganglia Press, 1969, [10] leaves. Artist book; concrete poetry; 200 copies. [1] (English)
- Unlucky Number: 13 minipoempamphs, Gronk 5:7; Minimimi 40-52, c.1969. 13 pamphlets in envelope.
- Optical Book, Brescia: Amodulo, 1970, [10] leaves. [2] (Italian)
- Ga: The First and Last Collection of Sound Poems, London: Writers Forum, 1971, [18] pp.
- editor, with bpNichol, The Pipe: Recent Czech Concrete Poetry, Toronto: Coach House, 1973, [28] sheets. [3] (English)
- Jiří Valoch presents: See page 13!, Friedrichsfehn: International Artist's Cooperation (Klaus Groh), 1973, 16 pp. (English)
- Sculptures IV (for Dalibor Chatrný), Brno: self-published, 1973. Artist book.
- Dva dny paměti, 1974. Artist book; 5 copies.
- Jiří Valoch, ed. Luciano Ori, pref. Aldo Rossi and Jan Pavlík, Rome: Beniamino Carucci, 1975, xxxi+64 pp. [4] (Italian),(English)
- Do It Yourself: 1971-1974, Amsterdam: Kontexts, 1975, [8] leaves. 100 copies. (English)
- 12 Exercises, Berlin: Hundertmark, c.1976, [14] pp. (English)
- Anekdoty bez topografie, Brno: self-published, 1976. Artist book; 5 copies.
- editor, Partitury: grafická hudba, fónická poezie, akce, parafráze, interpretace, Prague: Jazzová sekce, 1980, [136] pp. Catalogue. [5] (Czech)
- Semiotic Poems, London: Writers Forum, 1980, [30] leaves. (English)
- Haiku, Underwhich Editions (Canada), 1983, 16 pp. [6]
- Semantic Study, 1975/1983, Munich: Galerie Edition e, 1983, [34] leaves. [7] (German)
- Word Works, 1974-1984, Berlin: Reiner, 1984. Artist book. [8]
- 20 Works, Havendijk: Kunstcentrum Badhuis, 1985, 22 pp. [9] (Dutch)/(English)
- Jiří Valoch, ed. M. Koleček, Ústí nad Labem: Unie výtvarných umělců ústecké oblasti, 1995, 210 pp. [10] (Czech)
- Jiří Valoch: Die Bedeutung der Worte. Bücher. 27. April – 6. Juli 1997, forew. Guy Schraenen, Bremen: Neues Museum Weserburg, 1997, [24] pages. Catalogue; 1000 copies. [11] (German)
- editor, Proměny Ladislava Nováka, Gallery (Jaroslav Kořán), 2002, 222 pp. Catalogue. [12] (Czech)
- Kytička: více či méně nepřesných haiku, Brno: Vetus Via, 2004, 60 pp. [13] (Czech)
- editor, Běla Kolářová, Prague: Národní galerie v Praze, 2006, 159 pp. Catalogue. [14] (Czech)/(English)
- Druhá kytička: více či méně nepřesných haiku, Brno: Vetus Via, 2008, 90 pp. Poetry collection. (Czech)
- Bílé listy, 1964-1966 [1968], eds. Ondřej Chrobák and Jana Písaříková, Prague: tranzit.cz, 2015, 80 pp. Experimental poetry. (Czech)
- Whatever: výběr z textů 1966-1989, 2nd ed., exp., eds. Ondřej Chrobák, Petr Ingerle and Jana Písaříková, Brno: Moravská Galerie v Brně, 2020, 765+[24] pp. Anthology of writings. [15] [16] (Czech)
Literature
- Daniel Grúň, "Amateurism Under Socialism: The Politics of Art Education in the Work of Milan Adamčiak, Július Koller and Jiří Valoch", Third Text 32(4): "Actually Existing Artworlds of Socialism", 2018, pp 434-449. (English)
- Ivana Janković, "Here/There and Somewhere Else: The Artistic Connections of Jiří Valoch with Former Yugoslav Territory during the 1960s and 70s", Miejsce 5, 2019. (English)
- Helena Musilová, Jiří Valoch: Curator, Theoretician, Collector. Years 1965-1980, Prague: Národní galerie v Praze, 2019, 220 pp. [17] [18] (English)
- Jiří Valoch: kurátor, teoretik, sběratel. Léta 1965–1980, Brno: Galerie a nakladatelství Stará pošta, 2020, 235 pp. Review: Lexová (Artlist.cz). (Czech)
- Marika Svobodová, Jana Vránová (eds.), Mladí přátelé výtvarného umění (MPVU), Brno: Dům umění města Brna, 2020, 263 pp. Review: Lexová (Artlist.cz). Publisher. (Czech)
- Jana Písaříková, "Neviditelná socha, transcendentní výstava i programované umění. Kurátorské aktivity Jiřího Valocha šedesátých a sedmdesátých let", Sešit pro umění, teorii a příbuzné zóny 25, Prague: VVP AVU, 2020, pp 48-71. (Czech)
See also
Czech_Republic#Electroacoustic_and_experimental_music.2C_sound_art
Links
- Valoch Archive & Collection, Moravian Gallery, Brno
- Art is Here: New Art, permanent exhibition of Valoch's collection and archive, Pražákův palác, Moravian Gallery, Brno. Curated by Ondřej Chrobák, Petr Ingerle and Jana Písaříková.
- Valoch & Valoch. Archeologie a konceptuální umění, exhibition, Pražákův palác, Moravian Gallery, Brno, Sep 2022-Aug 2023. Curators: Jana Písaříková, Ondřej Chrobák, Petr Ingerle, Miroslav Maixner.
- Jiří Valoch conference, Galerie Emila Filly, Ústí nad Labem, 2021. Video. [19] [20]
- Profile on Artlist.cz
- Profile on abART
- Valoch at compArt daDA, a digital art database
- Valoch at Avantgarde Museum
- Valoch on Mail Artists Index
- Wikipedia-CS