18th ANNUAL COMPETITION for the "JINDŘICH CHALUPECKÝ AWARD"

On 12.6.2007 the international judges' panel for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award met in Prague. Nominated for the competition this year were 66 artists and groups, the most in the history of the competition. From these, the judges' panel selected 5 finalists for this year, who are:

Zbyněk Baladrán, Jakub Hošek, Eva Koťátková, Jan Nálevka, Pavla Sceranková.

The Finále 2007 exhibition will take place in the following independent Prague galleries:

Gallery NoD, Gallery Jelení, Gallery etc, Gallery Entrance, Gallery AM 180, and will run from 26 Oct to 2 Dec 2007. The regular exhibition hours are every day except Monday from 12.00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Assignment of individual finalists to galleries:

Zbyněk Baladrán, Galerie NoD (Dlouhá 33, P1)
Jakub Hošek, Galerie AM 180 (Bělehradská 45, P2)
Eva Koťátková, Galerie Jelení (Drtinova 15, P5)
Jan Nálevka, Galerie etc (Dlouhá 33, P1)
Pavla Sceranková, Galerie Entrance (Křižíkova 34, P8)

The press conference for the commencement of the Finále 2007 exhibition will take place on Thursday, October 25th at 11 a.m. at Gallery Entrance, Křižíkova 34, in the hall of Karlín Studios, Prague 8.

From here there will be shuttles to individual galleries. SJCH will provide transportation and refreshments.

The opening of the finalist exhibitions will take place at the individual galleries on Thursday, October 25th, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The inaugeration of the competition will take place at the NoD Experimental Space at 8:00 p.m.

The Laureate will be selected and announced during the meeting of the judges panel on November 14th, 2007 at Roxy. The annoucement celebration for the 2007 Laureate will begin at 6:30 p.m., led by physical poet Petr Váša.

Following the announcement, TLESKAČ and DJ Pedro Rodriquez will play at Roxy.

The Laureate for 2007 will receive:

• eck for 50,000 CZK for further artistic development
• a six-day scholarship stay in New York
• CZK100,000 towards future exhibits, artistic projects or a catalog

Comments from the judges on the individual finalists:

Zbyněk Baladrán (*1973) works in several media, creates video projections, spatial installations, drawings and textual schematics. He deals with analytic research of historical picture material and various methods of its reading.

Jakub Hošek (*1979) is a painter, whose numerous creations continually change. His paintings have a marked graphic, ornamental and even calligraphic character. He often works with text, and recently has also been interested in elaborate spatial installations with his canvases.

Eva Koťátková (*1982) combines performance and sculpture in an original manner. She draws upon the tradition of conceptual art of the sixties. Her events, objects and drawing are also characterized by a fanciful Dadaist sense of humor.

Jan Nálevka (*1976) absorbs and subversively shifts corporate graphic techniques. The effect of his ironic yet subtle designs on viewers is at first nearly imperceptible. In relation to everyday reality, they evoke a personal placebo effect with political overtones.

Pavla Sceránková (*1980) in her work is redefining the contemporary concept of sculptural work. She uses found materials and creates various unexpected combinations, allowing us to see the world around us from new and unanticipated perspectives.