TEODOR ROTREKL

TEODOR ROTREKL 
TOMÁŠ POSPISZYL 

The second volume in the edition m is dedicated to the artistic world and work of the painter and illustrator Teodor Rotrekl (1923–2004) who is not yet considered a classic representative of Czech art. He is more widely recognized as an illustrator of science fiction literature. However, he was the first domestic artist to publicly display a three-dimensional assemblage, his work combined painting with photography, and he experimented with pop-art montage. His worldview differed from our current understanding of the values of Czech postwar art, which we tend to associate with works that set themselves apart from the communist regime. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was among those artists who identified with the ruling political ideals. Though prevented from exhibiting his work after criticism of the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968, his political convictions remained unchanged. This monograph presents Teodor Rotrekl’s entire oeuvre, including works of applied art. At the same time, it analyzes the cultural environment of socialist Czechoslovakia and describes the era’s role of popular non-fiction, the ideological dimension of science fiction, and the relationship between Rotrekl’s work and global pop art. 

CZECH VOLUME 
Author: Tomáš Pospiszyl 
Graphic design: Studio Najbrt 

Number of pages: 293 
Dimensions: 240 × 280 mm 
Binding: hardcover 
Language: Czech 
ISBN: 978-80-908258-0-2 

Publishers: Kunsthalle Praha, Academia, Galerie KODL 
Release: November 2022