At the Venice Biennale, Irena Jůzová will represent the Czech Republic

Prague - Irena Jůzová will represent the Czech Republic at the Venice Biennale from June 10 to November 21. In the Czech-Slovak pavilion, she will exhibit a cast of her body. She will package "stripped skin" as merchandise. A part of the artistic project is also a space - a boutique, where the boxes will be offered.
    The idea arose from the inner need of the forty-two-year-old artist. "An artist goes to the market with their emotions, experiences... They go to the market with their skin," Jůzová said at today's press conference.
    In her project, the body does not appear sexual, aesthetic, or psychological, but according to the curator of the exhibition, Tomáš Vlček, the author rather points out power, mass communication, and the market. "In this sense, the presentation of the imprint of one's own body in the environment of an exclusive boutique, created from prefabricated castings of paper architecture, is an act of distance, questioning, and critique," he stated.
    Jůzová won with her work titled Collection-Series among 20 projects. She is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, where she later served as an assistant professor. Since last year, she has been working in the Studio of Spatial Creation at the Faculty of Multimedia Communications at Tomas Bata University in Zlín.
    The National Gallery in Prague is preparing an exhibition from December 13 to March 31, 2008, which will bring the installation from the Venice pavilion closer to the domestic audience.