Archive of Artists

The archive of artists at the AVU Research Centre consists of collections of several Czech artists‘ portfolios. It was created in connection with the i-datum contemporary Czech art database project and it is expanding as part of a research project documenting Czech art from the 1980s to the present.

It contains original texts by artists, curators, and theoreticians, as well as press releases, exhibition reviews, and other texts (essays and critical documents, etc.). The overall context is supplemented by additional printed material, such as invitations, posters, etc.

It offers cross-sectional photo documentation of art works and the documentation of exhibitions (see the audiovisual archive).

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Josef Bolf

Born:	7.10.1971
Place of birth:	Prague
Lives and works:	Prague

Key words

painting , drawing , object/installation , video/film

Reference

In paintings, drawings and collages by Josef Bolf, the imagination, rough poetry, and existentional and psychedelic experience with links to various cultural and subcultural phenomena, such as science-fiction, comics, horror movies and contemporary rock music, are mixed up. Mutated beings and biomorphous forms recall a „thrashy“ atmosphere, in which the love and death rule as inseparable and brutal natural instincts. Narrative fiction and abstract vegetating forms are accompanied by text fragments and quotations. Time and space squirm in his stories and figures; Bolf creates sondes into the neurotic collective memory of the recent times.

Education / Fellowship

1990-98 AVU, Prague (school of Načeradský, Jiří; Vladimír Kokolia; Vladimír Skrepl)
1995 Kongsthögskolan, Stockholm, SE
1996 Akademie der bildende Künste, Stuttgart, DE

Group membership

Bezhlavý jezdec

Solo exhibitions

2006 Hunt Kastner Artworks, Prague
2006 Death Is Not the End?, Moravian Gallery, Brno
2005 with Jan Šerých, Galerie České pojišťovny, Prague
2004 Psi, Obličeje, Kapustňák, Městská galerie, Hranice na Moravě
2004 Josef Bolf, A.M.180, Prague
2003 Narapoia, Ouky Douky Café, Prague
2002 Un gatto nel cervello, Galerie Na bidýlku, Brno
2002 Leticia, Galerie Holec, www.galerieholec.cz
2000 Bonanza, Auctionsart, www.auctionsart.cz
1999 Chtěl bych sbírat kousky tvého srdce až ti jednou pro někoho pukne, Galerie Černý pavouk, Ostrava
1999 Eldorado, BJ display box, Komunardů street, Prague
1999 Delusa a Bingara, Galerie Die Aktualität des Schönen, Liberec / Galerie Titanic, Divadlo hudby, Olomouc
1998 Novos bichos, Městské kulturní domy, České Budějovice
1998 Umělý chlapec, Galerie Starter & Sorter, Prague

Group exhibitions

2006 Acne, Collection of R. Adam, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
2006 Collection of R. Adam, Galerie Vaňkovka, Brno
2005 1811197604122005, Plan B, Cluj, RO
2005 J. Chalupecký Award Finalists 2005, GHMP, Prague
2005 V. Biennial of Young Artists, House at the Stone Bell, GHMP, Prague
2004 Neutral, Motorenhalle, Dresden, DE
2004 Současná malba ze sbírky Richarda Adama, Galerie města Jihlava, Jihlava
2004 Nebe je kino, kámo, Art Factory, Prague
2003 Československo, Slovak National Museum, Bratislava, SK
2003 Kompression, Kolonie Wedding, Berlin-Wedding, DE
2002 Encuentros intimos de la tercera specie, (with Adamec, David, Ivan Vosecký), NoD, Prague
2002 Blažo - Bolf - Jablońska - Pavlán, Display, Prague
2002 Kunstverein Stuttgart (with Ján Mančuška), project Wechselstube, Stuttgart, DE
2002 Sláva kosmonautů zapadá prachem (with Bezhlavý jezdec), Galerie Šternberk, Šternberk
2002 Hédonistická abstrakce, Pražákův palác, Moravian Gallery, Brno
2001 Český komiks, Buryzone, Bratislava, SK
2001 I. Festival of Comics in Jelení, FCCA, Galerie Jelení / Klub v Jelení, Prague
2001 Criss/Cross: Praha, Stuttgart, Wroclaw, project FCCA, Centrum Broumov, Broumov
2001 Les jeux de la francofonie, National Gallery, Ottawa, CA
2001 Magnetic Fields, Galerie Jelení, FCCA, Prague
2001 Art Moscow (with Bezhlavý jezdec, production Divus / Umělec), House of Artists, Moscow, RU
2001 Slepená intimita, Galerie Jelení, FCCA, Prague
2001 Story, Universal NoD, Prague
2000 Ženy přicházejí a odcházejí, jenom my spisovatelé sci-fi zůstáváme (with Bezhlavý jezdec), Galerie 761, Ostrava
2000 2. Zlínský salón mladých, Státní galerie Zlín
2000 Minulá současnost, současná minulost, AJG, Hluboká nad Vltavou
2000 Klasika 2000, Muzeum umění Olomouc
2000 Konec světa?, Palác Kinských, National Gallery, Prague
2000 BJ (with Bezhlavý jezdec), Galerie Jelení, FCCA / Komunikační prostor Školská 28, Prague
2000 Hnízda her, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
1999 ..., Universal NoD, Prague
1999 Vidiny, Universal NoD, Prague
1999 No Sex Until Marriage, project Divus / Umělec, alternative space, Holečkova street, Prague
1999 Open House (Bezhlavý jezdec, Kamera skura, Luxsus), FCCA, Čimelice Castle
1999 Něco o lásce, Richter Villa, Prague
1999 Maxisklad, Mánes, Prague
1999 Perplex, V. Špála Gallery, Prague
1999 Neplánované spojení, Mánes, Prague
1999 Umění pro nemocnici, projekt FCCA, V. Špála Gallery, Prague
1998 City, Bořivojova 26, Prague
1998 Diplomanti AVU, Veletržní palác, National Gallery, Prague
1998 Donations and Purchases, Trade-Fair Palace, National Gallery, Prague
1998 Dole v Bunkru, klub Bunkr, Prague
1998 Prostor pro komunikaci..., Galerie Merkner, Prague
1998 Metro, Galerie Černý pavouk, Ostrava
1997 Cabaret Luxsus, Fashion Club, Prague
1997 Fruits from Prague, Czech Centre, Berlin, DE
1997 Art in Public Space, project SCCA, Trade-Fair Palace, National Gallery, Prague
1997 Výstava /postromantismus/, Galerie Nora, Pardubice
1997 DUM, Bořivojova 26, Prague
1997 AVU Exhibition, Mánes, Prague
1997 S...S..., klub Bunkr, Prague
1996 BJ (with Bezhlavý jezdec), Galerie AVU, Prague
1996 Stipendianten 1996, Akademie der bildende Künste, Stuttgart, DE
1995 Doporučené výstavy, students of the school of Vladimír Kokolia, Galerie Béhémot, Prague
1995 Exhibition of students of Vladimír Kokolia and Matasové, Adéla, Sál architektů, Staroměstská radnice, Prague
1995 Linoryt, J. Fragner Gallery, Prague
1994 AVU Exhibition, Gallery of Fine Arts, Karlovy Vary
1993 Draci, students of Vladimír Kokolia, Galerie U bílého jednorožce, Galerie Klatovy/Klenová
1993 Exhibitions of students of Vladimír Kokolia, Galerie Sýpka, Vlkov u Brna
1993 AVU Exhibition, Dům U Hybernů, Prague

Own texts

Golden Times, 1983-2004

Texts / Publications

Catalogues, publications:
-Tomáš Pospiszyl, Josef Bolf, Divus, Praha 2009
- Zlaté časy, Brno 2005
- Jan Šerých a Josef Bolf, booklet (text by Ptáček, Jiří), Česká pojišťovna, Prague 2005
- Chtěl bych sbírat..., Divus, Prague 2002
- BJ (text by Havránek, Vít), Divus, Prague 1999
- booklet, BJ, Galerie AVU, Prague 1996

Articles, reviews:
- Váňa, Radek - Josef Bolf, in. Detail 8/III, 1998, p.2
- Havránek, Vít, Nevkusný Pepa a Bolfovy mutace, in. Umělec 4/98, p.24
- Lindaurová, Lenka, BJ, nové tváře, in. Umělec 2/98, p.16-17
- Kateřina Černá - Jan Skřivánek, Film, který není. Výlet do obrazů Josefa Bolfa, art&antiques, 5/2009, p. 32 - 38