New Zlín Salon 2017

11. May - 24. September 2017

Exhibitions

12. 5. - 10. 9. What is contemporary painting?
12. 5. – 16. 7. Jitka Svobodová: 4 and a Half Series (2010–2017)
12. 5. – 16. 7. Marian Mudroch: A Talent for Intuition
27. 7. – 24. 9. Through the Looking Glass / Contemporary Polish painting from the collection of Galeria Bielska BWA

The New Zlín Salon is carrying on the historical tradition of the salons that were held annually in Zlín from 1936 to 1948. Those salons offered the most extensive overviews available of contemporary Czechoslovak art (or, from 1939 – 1944, of Czech art). The revival of these shows in the form of the New Zlín Salon was implemented in 1996 under the auspices of, and with the participation of Czech President Václav Havel. The New Zlín Salon has been conceived of from the beginning as a triennale. Since 2005, artists from Slovakia have also participated in the salon.
During the past seven incarnations, the concept of the show has undergone various changes (in the criteria for choosing artists and the rotation of the jury members). This eighth continuation opens a new phase in which the project is more thematically focused. The topic of the main exhibition for this new salon is the question What does contemporary painting look like? Seven renowned curators from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, differing generationally and by professional focus, will attempt to answer that question through the parts of the exhibition they each are curating.In addition to the main show, we are also placing a bigger accent on other parts of the project. When we began, we held a colloquium on the topic of Why should contemporary art be presented outside the center?, which attempted to confront and name the problems outlined from the perspective of various stakeholders – artists, publicly-funded galleries, local cultural initiatives and politicians. As part of our accompanying exhibitions, we are showing, as is traditional, autonomous exhibitions by significant artists of the most senior generation. This year we chose to exhibit Marian Mudroch (Slovakia) and Jitka Svobodová (Czech Republic). As a certain extension of the main exhibition we are offering a selection of the contemporary Polish art scene by taking a look at the painting collection of the Bielska Gallery BWA.