Jan Tichy
Portals of Form
Through March 31, 2024
Even the most basic form or unremarkable line possesses the capacity to contain hidden knowledge. Within these shapes and gestures lie clues to the ideas and cultural context from which the artwork emerged. Despite numerous endeavors throughout history, artists and historians have come to acknowledge the challenge of separating an artwork from the circumstances surrounding its creation.
It is at the intersection of aesthetics and the act of creation that artist Jan Tichy reexamines the concept of form, incorporating the surrounding time, environment, and social structures. Through his minimalist perspective, he allows the world to fade away, enabling the subject, the narrative, and the emotions of his subjects to take center stage.
Exhibition Playlist
Jan Tichy's diverse artistic practice offers intimate glimpses through captivating, abstract, and minimalist approaches. His engaging simplicity unveils a connection to a place or time that cuts through the chaotic nature of our present day.
The artist's unique approach embodies a methodology he refers to as Social Formalism. He repositions the lineage of formalism that dates back to the 19th century, where artists transformed subjects into their fundamental formal elements. Through his exploration of light, architecture, and objects, Tichy distills the underlying social, political, and cultural shifts related to specific concerns.
About the Artist
Contemporary artist Jan Tichy (b. 1974) investigates the intersection of video, sculpture, architecture, and photography. Tichy, who was born in Prague and now calls Chicago home, received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago after studying in Israel. His works have been shown at renowned institutions all over the world and have been included in prestigious collections including the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Career Highlights
Major Solo & Group Shows
Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago)
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Kunsthalle Osnabrueck (Germany)
The Broad Museum (Michigan)
Richard Gray Gallery (Chicago)
Fridman Gallery (New York)
Institutional Collections
Museum of Modern Art (New York)
Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago)
Israel Museum (Jerusalem)
Magasin 3 (Stockholm)
Publications
Artforum
Art in America
Frieze
Domus
Aesthetics of Terror
Chicago Makes Modern
After Architecture
Themes
Memory and History
Light and Space
Perception and Experience
Medium
Print
Video
Photography
Installation
Sculpture
Portals of Form
Within this collection, viewers encounter photograms and etchings that modulate light to reveal the energy of various sites and architectural structures. His photographs present unexpected juxtapositions of real-life situations, resulting in unforeseen forms.
A series of screen prints showcase his ability to reduce subjects into intense mathematical geometries. Conversely, Tichy's cyanotypes whimsically explore the relationship between the natural world and its political ground through an examination of materiality, shape, and shadow.
Photograms
A photogram is a camera-less photographic image created by placing objects onto light-sensitive material and exposing it to light.
Cyanotypes
The cyanotype is a photosensitive printing process that reacts to near ultraviolet and blue light (300 nm to 400 nm), known as UVA radiation.
Screen Prints
Screen printing involves using a mesh to apply ink onto a substrate, except in areas where a blocking stencil has made the surface impermeable to the ink.
Photogravure
Photogravure involves etching an image into a copper plate using light and chemicals, based on a photograph or negative. The resulting image is then printed on paper with ink.
Tichy's two-dimensional images expose the underlying narratives of light and darkness within our environments, capturing the contrast between the industrial and the natural, as well as the tension between the public and the private.
These abstracted images are complemented by figurative video works created using the artist's signature Expanded Moment technique, which explores the temporal aspect of various locations. By capturing genuine people and moments in unexpected isolated compositions, Tichy highlights the essence of the human condition.
Photographs
Jan Tichy's photographs present unexpected juxtapositions of real-life situations, resulting in unforeseen forms.
Expanded Moments
Tichy's signature Expanded Moment approach captures people in public spaces, presenting them in an extended timeframe through single-shot videos. These unique perspectives challenge traditional norms of outsider observations.
View all works by Jan Tichy
Art Basel 2026: Visibility, Presence, Scale
Bringing together 290 galleries from 43 countries, Art Basel 2026 extends from historical anchors through contemporary practices into increasingly constructed, large-scale environments. The fair still functions as a central meeting point for the market, but its relevance now depends less on discovery and more on how effectively it concentrates attention across multiple, tightly managed spaces. For more than half a
Medina Triennial 2026: All That Sustains Us
The Medina Triennial unfolds along the Erie Canal in Western New York as a village-wide exhibition titled All That Sustains Us. It brings together 39 artists and collectives in a free, walkable programme across post-industrial and public sites, linking contemporary art with ecology, labour, and infrastructure. Co-curated by Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo, the Triennial positions Medina as an active
Second Lives and City Lit Partnership Announced at Burgh House Breakfast
Second Lives, an exhibition platform celebrating artists who have developed their practice alongside other careers, entered a new chapter with a gathering at Burgh House. Hosted by founder Paula Lent, the event brought together artists, curators, and leaders to celebrate a partnership with City Lit. The breakfast brought together a diverse community of creatives, curators and cultural leaders to reflect
David Hockney (1937–2026): Pools, Landscapes, Perspective
David Hockney, pioneering British artist, has died aged 88, closing a six-decade career that reshaped painting, photography, and stage design. From California swimming pools to Yorkshire landscapes, he redefined perspective, embraced technology, and created instantly recognisable works that fused intimacy, colour, and innovation across media. He died on 11 June 2026, at home, according to his representatives. They described a
London Gallery Weekend 2026: How a Dispersed Scene Becomes One
London possesses one of the world’s most extensive and geographically dispersed gallery ecosystems. London Gallery Weekend 2026 brings together more than 120 galleries, over 80 public events, a growing network of institutional partnerships and a citywide programme spanning multiple neighbourhoods. Now in its sixth edition, the initiative has become a key fixture in the international art calendar, creating a framework
Art Osaka 2026: Contemporary Art Through the Lens of Kansai
Art Osaka 2026 enters a new phase with an expanded two venue format spanning Grand Green and Creative Center. Bringing together more than 60 galleries from Japan and across Asia, the fair connects commercial presentations, large scale installations, and regional histories through a distinctly Kansai perspective. Founded in 2002, Art Osaka is among Japan’s longest-running contemporary art fairs. Organised by
