SYLVA FRANCOVÁ

IN PANEL

10. 6. – 20. 7. 2010

The project IN PANEL is inspired by the environment of a prefab housing estate in Prague where I have been living for many years, in fact for the greater part of my life. I was always fascinated how the blocs of prefab flats seemed to come alive every night through the shimmering lights of their windows. Through those lights which make bowels of housing estate visible, contrary to their apparent inaccessibility during daytime. I was interested how the dwellers live in their unified living spaces which were, in my fantasy, both identical and yet dissimilar, with rhythmical repetition of their elements, an intimate inner space in contrast with that anonymous one outside. I have been mapping the living rooms of my neighbours, acquaintances and friends living in the prefabs of Jižní město (Southern Town). I try to depict the appearance of rooms as individual, mutually unrelated envelopes of human fates, where their inhabitants possibly do not know each other, while being separated just by a thin wall, yet coexisting within the same prefabricated anthill. At this exhibition, I present a selection of pictures from my long-term project which will be continued. At this opportunity, I would also like to express my thanks to all participants/players, both present and prospective, for their willingness to let me enter into their privacy. Sylva Francová has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Education, Charles University in Prague. She presents her works of art at exhibitions in Czechia and abroad. She has got several awards, such as the Hlávka Award, 1st rank in the Portfolio Review at the festival Mesiac fotografie 2007 (Month of Photography) at Bratislava and a grant from the Nadace pro současné umění (Foundation for Contemporary Art). She lives and works in Prague. www.sylvafrancova.com