Famed Czech photographer Vladimir Zidlicky began his artistic career in
the 1970s as a painter, but soon established a signature style that blurred
the distinction between painting and photography.
His rich and complex images often begin with nude figures (dancing, intertwined,
floating, piled up like heaps, painted with light), which he then distresses
with surface scratches, cross-hatching, drawing, puncturing and ripping.
The images are radically transformed with these often violent and
aggressive gestures that seem to encase the figures and suspend them in
space. As choreographer of his creations, he expertly captures motion
and frenzy in multiple exposures and time-lapsed blurring. In the darkroom,
he continues to make each piece unique, with expressive toning and further
manipulation.
Zidlicky’s art is dream-like (some are like nightmares), erotic
and surreal. He creates a unique and oddly compelling mixture of the celebration
of the naked human form, and meditations on decay, destruction, and loss
of personal identity.
A new, beautifully printed book celebrates a 30-year retrospective of
his artwork. The over-sized book includes 248 pages of essays, interviews,
and an abundance of photographs in groupings that are presented in chronological
order. Essays and texts appear in Czech and English. This book was chosen
as the ’Best Book of Photography for Central and Eastern Europe
in 2008’ by an international jury in Bratislava.
—LensCulture
Zidlicky 1970–2007
Hardcover: 250 pages
30.5 x 24.6 cm
Publisher: David Zidlicky / Atelier Zidlicky
ISBN: 978-80-254-2920-4
