Tomáš Pospiszyl

Tomáš Pospiszyl (1967) is an art historian, critic and curator based in Prague. He focuses on Czech and world art of the 20th and 21st century. Pospiszyl works at the Centre of Audiovisual Studies at FAMU (since 2003) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (since 2012), where he also serves as the head of the Department of Theory and History of Art. Since its foundation he has been affiliated with the tranzit.cz association.

Tomáš Pospiszyl worked as a curator in The National Gallery in Prague (1997-2002). He was a research fellow at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2000), and served at the editorial board of Umelec magazine.

His publications include the anthology Primary Documents; A Sourcebook for Eastern and Central European Art since the 1950s (2002), which he edited with Laura Hoptman, two volumes of his essays, Srovnávací studie (2005) and Asociativní dějepis umění (2014), and numerous catalogue essays and magazine articles.

Publications

Books

• editor, Před obrazem. Antologie americké výtvarné teorie a kritiky, trans. Tomáš Pospiszyl, OSVU, 1998, 189 pp. (Czech)

• editor, with Laura Hoptman, Primary Documents: A Sourcebook for Eastern and Central European Art Since the 1950s, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2002, 375 pp. (English)

• with Petr Babák, Octobriana a ruský underground. Neuvěřitelný příběh Petra Sadeckého, Prague: Labyrint, 2004, 280 pp. [1] (Czech)

• with Vanda Skálová, Alén Diviš, Prague: Nadace Karla Svolinského a Věry Kubátové, 2005, 252 pp. (Czech)

• Srovnávací studie, Prague: Fra, 2005, 180 pp. (Czech)

• Josef Bolf: velká černá kniha / Big Black Book, Prague: Divus, 2009, 120 pp. [2] (Czech)/(English)

• David Černý - Promrdané roky III / The Fucking Years III, Prague: Respekt, 2009, 120 pp. (Czech)/(English)

• editor, with Ivan Adamovič, Planeta Eden. Svět zítřka v socialistickém Československu 1948-1978, Prague: Arbor vitae, 2010, 248 pp. Publisher. Review: Franc (Soudobé dějiny). (Czech)

• Vladislav Mirvald, Prague: Arbor vitae, 2010, 160 pp. [3] (Czech)

• Jan Pištěk. Živly / Elements, Prague: Arbor vitae, 2011, 88 pp. (Czech)

• editor, with Eric Rosenzveig, CAS: Co to je? / What is it?, Prague: NAMU, 2013, 326 pp. (Czech)/(English)

• Asociativní dějepis umění: poválečné umění napříč generacemi a médii. Koláž, intermediální a konceptuální umění, performance a film, Prague: tranzit.cz, 2014, 208 pp. Publisher. Book launch. (Czech)
  • An Associative Art History: Comparative Studies of Neo-Avant-Gardes in a Bipolar World, trans. Ivan Gutierrez, Prague: tranzit.cz, and Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2017, 293 pp. TOC. Review: Arnoux (Critique d'art, FR). Publisher. (English)

• David Černý, BIGGBOSS, 2017, 336 pp. (Czech)

• Posledních padesát let, Hradec Králové: Galerie moderního umění v Hradci Králové, 2020, 107 pp. Exhibition. Publisher. (Czech)

• Rotrekl, Prague: Kunsthalle Praha, 2022, 336 pp. Publisher. (Czech)

• with Veronika Čechová, Příběh Jindřicha Chalupeckého, Prague: Společnost Jindřicha Chalupeckého, 2022, 95 pp. (Czech)

• editor, Jindřich Chalupecký. Texty a kontexty kritika umění, Prague: Akademie výtvarných umění, 2023, 396 pp. Review: Rampley (Centre of modern art & theory Brno). [4] (Czech)

• with Zuzana Jakalová, Eva Kmentová, Brno: Host, 2023, 168 pp. Publisher. (Czech)

Essays

• "Radši bych byl andělem", Artlist, n.d. Written for the exhibition of Jiří Kovanda, Radši bych byl andělem, Josef Sudek Studio, 6 Dec 2006—14 Jan 2007. (Czech)
• "Konec umění", A2 23, Prague, 2007. (Czech)
• "Trojí reflexe Jána Mančušky", Cinepur 52, Jul 2007. (Czech)
• "Look Who’s Watching: Photographic Documentation of Happenings and Performances in Czechoslovakia", in 1968-1989: Political Upheaval and Artistic Change, eds. Claire Bishop and Marta Dziewańska, Warsaw: Museum of Modern Art, 2009, pp 74-87. Proceedings from the 2008 conference. (English)
• "Záhada Emila Filly", Artlist, n.d. Delivered at a conference to accompany the exhibition Roky ve dnech, City Gallery, Sep 2010. (Czech)
• "Artist Run Initiatives (ARI) - cechy ogólne i analiza wybranych przykładów historycznych w Czechosłowacji i Republice Czeskiej" [Artist Run Initiatives (ARI) - the General Features and the Analysis of Selected Historical Examples in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic], Sztuka i Dokumentacja 7, Łódź, 2012, pp 38-43. (Polish)
• "Výtvarníci", in Vladimír 518, et al., Kmeny 0, Prague: Bigg Boss, 2013. [5] (Czech)
• "Umění z druhé ruky", in Dokumentace umění, eds. Jan Krtička and Jan Prošek, Ústí nad Labem: Univerzita J. E. Purkyně, 2013, pp 9-15. (Czech)
• "Etude", Manifesta Journal 13, 2013. (English)
• "Milan Knížák and Ken Friedman: Keeping Together Manifestations in a Divided World", post, New York: MoMA, 1 Sep 2015. (English)
• "Filmová montáž a princip montáže v nefilmových oborech. Případová studie: rané koláže Jiřího Koláře", Sešit pro umění, teorii a příbuzné zóny 22, Prague, 2017, pp 42-61. (Czech)
• "Artists in the Service of the Public", Third Text 153: "Actually Existing Artworlds of Socialism", Jul 2018, pp 379-391. (English)

• "Rok 1968 ve výtvarném umění", Artalk.cz, 13 Aug 2018. (Czech)
  • "The Year 1968 in Fine Arts", Blok, 16 Sep 2018. (English)

• "Reading Performances: Literary Aspects of Conceptual and Performance Art in Eastern Europe", in Doing Performance Art History. Perspectives of Actors and Observers, eds. Sandra Frimmel, et al., Apparatus, 2020. (English)

• "Odkud kráč Nočni chodci. K interpretaci malířského cyklu Františka Hudečka", Umění/Art 71:1, 2023, pp 40-49. (Czech)}

Further texts in A2, Artalk.

Links

• Profile at Academy of Fine Arts, Prague
• Profile on Artlist
• Profile on AbArt
• Wikipedia-CS