Art | Cardinal Guzman

Masturdating Going out alone. I.e. seeing a movie by yourself, going to a restaurant alone. - urbandictionary.com

Jan Saudek

In Prague I went to an exhibition with Salvador Dalì, Jan & Kája Saudek and Andy Warhol. Prior to this exhibition I wasn’t familiar with the Saudek brothers and I’ve always thought Warhol to be overrated (soup cans and Madonna, is that all he’s got?), but I’ve always liked Dalí’s work and that’s why it was Dalí that caught my attention and made me go masturdating. Being slightly hung-over, masturdating seemed like a good way to spend a few hours.

If you, like me, have no knowledge about Saudek, let me give you a small introduction with info I found on Wikipedia when I wrote this article (about nine months after seeing the exhibition):

Jan Saudek (born 13 May 1935 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech art photographer and painter. Saudek’s father was a Jew and this, coupled with his Slavic (Czech) heritage, caused his family to become a target of the Nazis.

Kája Saudek (born Karel Saudek, 13 May 1935 – 26 June 2015) was a Czech comics illustrator. He was one of the most important exponents of the Czech comics since the late 1960s. Kája’s father was also a Jew (perhaps not a big surprise there since Kája and Jan were twin brothers).

Many of their family members died in Theresienstadt concentration camp during World War II. Jan and his brother Karel, or Kája, were held in a children’s concentration camp for Mischlinge, located near the present Polish-Czech border (Luža in Poland). Their father, Gustav, was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in February 1945. Both brothers and their father survived the imprisonment and came back to Prague.

So, short summary of the highlights: Jan is the photographer, Kája the illustrator.

Kája died in 2015 at the age of 80. He had been in a coma for nine years following an accident in 2006 (so the way I see it, he died at an age of 71)

If you want to know more about the Saudek brothers, there’s plenty of material to read about them on Wikipedia. Jan Saudek’s work is not only artistic, staged nudes in black and white, he also used a hand-tint technique. Unfortunately I have no photos of the latter, but you’ll find some excellent examples in the link section.

Kája Saudek’s work is surrealistic, bizarre and erotic. Really brilliant.

Kája and Jan Saudek gallery:

Kája Saudek

Kája Saudek’s studio

Kája Saudek

Jan Saudek

Kája Saudek?

Jan Saudek

Background used by Jan Saudek

Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol gallery:

Salvador Dalí, Jan & Kája Saudek, Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Salvador Dalí

When I exited the exhibition I was positively surprised that I’d discovered a couple of new artists. My favorites were the two Saudek brothers, (Kája, then Jan), followed by Warhol’s album covers and the works of Dalí were my least favorites. Dalí has a lot of cool paintings, but I didn’t fancy his works at this exhibition since it had this mass-produced feeling to it.

Trivia: I had that black Dalí perfume bottle once, but it disappeared somehow…
Trivia 2: I also vaguely remember now that I’ve seen some of Kája’s work as a teenager – probably in some obscure porn publications.

Some links to Saudek (check out Jan’s photos in the first link):

These were carved in stone. If you want to see these walls, you should visit Reykjavik, Iceland.

Stone art/wall art, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Mural, Reykjavik, iceland.

“Drinking is an emotional thing. It joggles you out of the standardism of everyday life, out of everything being the same. It yanks you out of your body and your mind and throws you against the wall. I have the feeling that drinking is a form of suicide where you’re allowed to return to life and begin all over the next day. It’s like killing yourself, and then you’re reborn. I guess I’ve lived about ten or fifteen thousand lives now.”
― Charles Bukowski

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Cardinal Guzman

Encyclopedia Miscellaneous – 'quality' blogging since August 2011

Category Archives: Art

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These were carved in stone. If you want to see these walls, you should visit Reykjavik, Iceland.