Prague, Troja Chateau, September 20-21, 2025, https://www.ghmp.cz
Troja Chateau is one of the multiple locations of the Prague City Gallery (GHMP) on the outskirts of Prague, next to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens. It is a beautiful baroque manor house, surrounded by a well maintained garden. This place was the site of the recent GHMP Art Book Fair (GHMP ABF).
As for art book fairs, they can be usually placed within a space delineated by three vectors: those where the majority of space is taken up by exhibition catalogues, mass printed monographs and art theoretical academic books (art book store like), those focusing on unique objects like hand made books or classic prints in book form (art fair like) and those focusing on the DIY aspect of self-publishing (individual makers selling multiples). (Another sub-type would be the photo book fair). The GHMP ABF was quite close to the art book store with many Czech museums and galleries, university-affiliated publishers and research institutes taking up the bulk of the exhibitors with rather thick heavy books and glossy art magazines. To lighten up the atmosphere and to provide some artsy magic dust, a smaller number of individual artists, zine makers and independent publishers presenting their work was spread in between. Those were the interesting part for me, because I could engage directly with the creators, and take away some small, light and unique works of art.
Given the quantity on show, the most difficult task is to remain open for new impulses and while keeping the skill of zooming in on works that require focused attention. It is impossible to talk about each and every exhibitor. I decided to pick just three works of three artists that touched me:
Haein Kim: Roadbed
Hein Kim is a Korean painter. She studied graphic design at one of the most renowned art colleges in Korea, Hongink University, but kept on painting during her studies and does so also now at a residency in Berlin where she is currently staying. Book and print works are a way for her to provide additional layers of meaning and alternative access to ideas she is concerned about. She used the GHMP ABF as a chance to visit Prague and present her work at the same time.
The work I acquired is about riding a bus across the long urban distances within Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province megalopolis. The bus serves as a metaphor for a save space existing in between the stress and tiredness of daily work and life. The work is a single sheet of riso-printed A3 paper. On one side is an rougly drawn image of a bus interior with rows of seats. On the other side is a short poem-story in Korean and English referring to the aforementioned topic. Another small piece of paper gives instructions, how to cut and fold the sheet of paper, to obtain a leporello-like mini-book. The A3 sheet folded in half and the instructions are housed in a semi-transparent paper sleeve with a stamped title of the work.
As I travel a lot with busses and also exprienced them on site in Seoul, I could immediately relate to the work and the idea. But I also liked the form of the work, very light but still thought through, soliciting the active participation of the viewer to complete the work. I did not do the cutting yet (this will also cut the image on the other side off the paper, but I think I will do it as a special small ritual soon, completing the artist´s original intention.
Edit: I did cut and fold the page later, here is the result:
Vera Koss: Sweaters
Vera Koss is an artist with an adventurous life story caused partially by shifting geopolitical circumstances and personal forrtunes. Originally from Russia, she set off at an early age to live in Poland, Georgia and currently residing in Czechia. She is not only a visual artist but also a musician and singer. At her table, she was presenting an array of products ranging from zines, to tapes, t-shirts and silk-screened patches. A screen looping video clips was also present at the desk. A trully multi-media installation.
The work I acquired is a miniature riso-printed zine in light-blue color titled “Sweaters”. It consists of cude hand-drawn images of screnes from a park with a lot of dogs, some trees, some baby carts, some people and some atmospheric elements like sun and stars. The simplicity and roughness of the images reminds me of early cave drawings, charged with an spiritual attempt to reconvene an array of real-world entities as ghostly doubles within an enclosed space. At the same time the minimal text in the zine is kind of balacing out the mystical air and supports the mundanity of the scenes: The sweaters from the title are in fact sweaters that the dogs wear once cold weathe (I guess) sets in. The zine was accompanied by a postcard-sized print of one of the images from the book (a dog) and a few stickers referencing other works or projects by Koss (e.g. her musical guise as Cherny Chleb).
At first I was drawn by the absurd idea of the books whose whole storyline consits of dogs who get to wear sweaters. It was kind of funny. Later on I started to appreciate the primordial crudeness of the drawings which show a common scene, but still make you somehow thinkg of Altamira cave drawings and Plato´s cave.
Fortner Anderson: Considerations
Fortner Anderson is a US-born but since more than 50 years Montreal, Canada-based artist/poet with a large oeuvre spanning poetry, performance and media arts. The table infront of him was a miniature exhibition featuring an array of works showing the results of a clear artistic vision. It was a trully unexpected suprise to meet such an established artist, basically a living member of art history in person, listening to his steady voice patiently explaining the works. Later I learned he also gave a talk at the event, which I unffortunately missed.
The work I acquired is in the format of a typical comic book, printed on rather thin paper, with a front cover design resebling that of a comic. The content of the book is something quite different. It is a text only work, featuring 1000 sentences, each using one of 1000 most common verbs. The sentences all start “Once I..” and they reveal something from Andersons lived experience. The last two pages again allude to the comic book, featuring set of “advertisements” for Anderson´s other works.
While the discrepancy between the outside cover promising “72 action-packed pages” and the rather dry list of 1000 sentences in a simple textual layout can create some cognitive dissonance at first, once one dives into the contents, the feelings change. I was moved by the seeming simplicity of the concept, which, however, at closer look reveals the complexity of language, memory, time and the web of connections among them. It is a work that fits well into the lineage of conceptual art, while at the same time being a piece of conrete poetry.
GHMP ABF gave me the chance to meet these artists in person, to experience their work, and to take something home. I can only say – it was a pleasure.