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
In Conversation: Personal Narratives in Contemporary Art
Zarastro Art’s artist panel held in London in October 2024 featured Eilen Itzel Mena, Imogen Marsteller, and Mercedes Balle, offering participants a unique opportunity to engage with three exceptional women artists, each sharing their distinct approaches to storytelling through art.
Labour’s Autumn Budget Boosts Arts Funding, Yet Future Stability Remains Uncertain
Chancellor Reeves announced a boost in funding for national museums in Labour’s autumn budget, which was welcomed by cultural figures. However, key arts organizations and regional museum leaders criticized the plans for not addressing long-term challenges in the sector. The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will receive a 2.6% real-terms increase, totaling £2.3 billion for capital projects
Frieze’s Art Fairs and Magazine Up for Potential Sale as Endeavor Goes Private
Endeavor, the parent company of Frieze—which owns a talent agency along with various sports and entertainment businesses—is preparing to go private. The company is reviewing the sale of its event assets, which include the art fairs and Frieze magazine. The Frieze-related announcement follows Silver Lake’s decision to take Endeavor private after three years on the New York Stock Exchange, with
Human Presence: Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery
Francis Bacon’s work delivers a raw, haunting exploration of human existence. Human Presence at London’s National Portrait Gallery invites viewers into his intense world through over 55 striking portraits, tracing his artistic evolution and challenging us to confront the fragile nature of identity. Visitors are drawn into Bacon’s unsettling style, beginning with Head VI (1949), an eerie depiction of a
Toronto Biennial of Art 2024: Fragility, Resilience, Transformation
The Toronto Biennial of Art, titled Precarious Joys, features 55 artists at 12 locations throughout the city. The exhibition highlights the fragility of contemporary life while celebrating art as an agent of change, exploring the risks of visibility related to citizenship, Indigenous erasure, climate disaster, and gentrification. The Toronto Biennial is still in its early stages, having held only three
Art Basel & UBS Survey: Art Collecting in 2024
The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting highlights a rising interest in emerging and women artists in the art market. Most high-net-worth collectors are purchasing from new dealers, with over 75% acquiring paintings and a notable increase in works on paper, which climbed to over 50%. In the first half of 2024, public auction sales fell by 26%