Jan Lukas’s New York – Pompeii exhibition extended until September 30, 2006
09/11/2006
More than 65,000 people have already seen New York – Pompeii, the exhibition of Jan Lukas’s large-format photographs that are on show in Southern Gardens of the Prague Castle. Part of the Maximum Photography cycle of PPF collection exhibitions, the event has been extended until September 30 due to great popular demand and the photographer’s recent death.
“I am glad that the exhibition could be staged at the Prague Castle and it makes me very happy,” Jan Lukas told his daughter Helena this summer.
Unfortunately, sad news arrived in late August, shortly after the exhibition welcomed its 65,000th visitor – the legend of Czech documentary and street photography died at the age of 91 in New York on August 28, 2006.
“Time, both of individuals and humankind, a constant theme in Lukas’s photographic work, has run out for the author,” says curator Pavel Lagner of the PPF Group, “We are happy we have been able to pay tribute to the artist in this way. Together with the Prague Castle Administration, we have, therefore, decided to extend the exhibition until September 30.”
The objective of MAXIMUM PHOTOGRAPHY is to show that sensitive installation of photographs in public places can achieve an aesthetic effect much the same as sculpture. Photographs are placed on large-scale glass panels in massive steel frames that were designed by the Olgoj Chorchoj studio and manufactured specifically for this project. A number of technical issues had to be tackled during project implementation – how to present large-format photographs without the works losing their original sharpness of image and atmosphere; how to protect photographs from weather; how to install them and how to place the steel frames on pavement without any fixtures or anchors.
The maximum photography exhibition was put together by PPF and the Prague Castle in 2004 followed by the Heroes of Albion project in 2005. This is the first year that the project is presented in Karlovy Vary, too.
PPF Group is the strongest Czech financial institution. It lends its long-term support to a number of charity and culture projects including the Czech art photography in general. PPF has been devoted to photography, its preservation and development: the company reconstructed Josef Sudek’s studio in Prague’s Malá Strana and the venue now serves as a well-established gallery. The company has been consistently building a collection of works by leading Czech photographers.
“I am glad that the exhibition could be staged at the Prague Castle and it makes me very happy,” Jan Lukas told his daughter Helena this summer.
Unfortunately, sad news arrived in late August, shortly after the exhibition welcomed its 65,000th visitor – the legend of Czech documentary and street photography died at the age of 91 in New York on August 28, 2006.
“Time, both of individuals and humankind, a constant theme in Lukas’s photographic work, has run out for the author,” says curator Pavel Lagner of the PPF Group, “We are happy we have been able to pay tribute to the artist in this way. Together with the Prague Castle Administration, we have, therefore, decided to extend the exhibition until September 30.”
The objective of MAXIMUM PHOTOGRAPHY is to show that sensitive installation of photographs in public places can achieve an aesthetic effect much the same as sculpture. Photographs are placed on large-scale glass panels in massive steel frames that were designed by the Olgoj Chorchoj studio and manufactured specifically for this project. A number of technical issues had to be tackled during project implementation – how to present large-format photographs without the works losing their original sharpness of image and atmosphere; how to protect photographs from weather; how to install them and how to place the steel frames on pavement without any fixtures or anchors.
The maximum photography exhibition was put together by PPF and the Prague Castle in 2004 followed by the Heroes of Albion project in 2005. This is the first year that the project is presented in Karlovy Vary, too.
PPF Group is the strongest Czech financial institution. It lends its long-term support to a number of charity and culture projects including the Czech art photography in general. PPF has been devoted to photography, its preservation and development: the company reconstructed Josef Sudek’s studio in Prague’s Malá Strana and the venue now serves as a well-established gallery. The company has been consistently building a collection of works by leading Czech photographers.