Czech Art in L.A. . . . Free at Last

When 15 Los Angeles artists traveled to the Czechoslovakian capital of Prague for an exhibition of their works there last summer, they worried that the government would shut down the show. State police were stationed by the door throughout the monthlong run, and their Czechoslovakian curator faced police interrogation because of suspicions that the Americans would spout anti-Czech propaganda.

Now, 11 Czechoslovakian artists have arrived in Los Angeles for the second part of the exchange exhibition, “Dialogue: Prague/L.A.,” which is being held in various locations throughout the city beginning today. And the very same curator who underwent police interrogation a year ago is giving partial credit for her country’s new-found artistic freedom--a result of November’s artist-led revolution--to that exhibition.

“A kind of back door was already opening (last summer) and somehow we managed to sneak our foot in,” said Zdenka Gabalova, after arriving on her third trip to Los Angeles in as many months. “This exhibition was one of the signals in Prague that the situation was (destined) to change. At that time, the (Stalinist) authorities were still very much in power, but the society itself had started to change. They had kept a lid on the society for 40 years, but the grass-root activities--like this exhibition--made it come out.”

Gabalova and her co-curator, Los Angeles artist Barbara Benish, stressed during a recent interview that “Dialogue”--which includes shows at Otis/Parsons Art Gallery, the Santa Monica Museum of Art and the new Arroyo Arts Collective, as well as performances, lectures and workshops at Angels Gate Cultural Center, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design--was in the planning stages long before November’s revolution.

“I met Zdenka five years ago when taking a trip to Prague,” recalled Benish, who had been visiting the Czech capital for about 10 years as a tourist. “Originally I had hoped to exhibit there myself, and Zdenka had said, ‘Sure, it could be arranged,’ even though it was crazy at the time to think of an American exhibiting there. But then as we got to looking at the work (from both countries) we realized there were a lot of similarities, which was surprising to us. We noticed that the artists both here and in Prague had a lot of the same thoughts and concerns. So in 1987 we started really working on what blossomed into a full-blown cultural exchange.”

The curators first set to work on what they thought would be the most difficult end of the exchange--bringing American artists and works into Prague. Said Benish: “Americans had not shown in Prague in 40 years, so we thought if we could do that, and bring the American artists into Prague, then we could surely get the Czechoslovakian works here, and maybe even some of the artists (none of whom had passports at the time).”

But the going was not easy, Benish said.

“It’s really important that we don’t forget the risk that Zdenka--and all the Czech artists--went through to do this,” she said. “They knew that once (the Czech government) knew that they were even dealing with Americans, then it could be bad for them. But all the Czech artists said, ‘Oh sure, we’ll do this,’ and were very enthusiastic even though we had no support and no funding and needed to break through a lot of barriers.”

But while one of those barriers would seemingly be government approval, Gabalova, who admitted that she worried throughout the show that the government might close it down, said she purposely had not sought governmental support. “We wanted to remain independent,” she said. “Had they given us support, they would have censored us.”

(Officially, the L.A. artists were invited to Prague by the Central Committee of the Socialist Union of Youth of Czechoslovakia. Nonetheless, Gabalova said, police waited outside the gallery’s door throughout the show and plainclothes policemen were in the crowd during a public symposium held in conjunction with the exhibition.)

Before the revolution, Gabalova, an art critic, had written mainly for underground publications and worked as a translator to support herself. When asked about the risks she took to mount “Dialogue,” she said: “I never thought of it like that. And I really don’t like to talk about it. It was just police interrogation; I wasn’t imprisoned. So many people went through things so much worse than I did. I don’t like to talk about it.”

True to her assertion, Gabalovawould only say of her “interrogation” that “the police were questioning me and asserting that (the Americans) would be used for anti-Czech propaganda by bringing in American art, which of course was absurd.” Gabalova noted that several artists in the show have previously been detained, jailed or put on trial by Czechoslovakian authorities because of their artistic activities.

“What inspired me (to do this show) was that they were still making art in this oppressive scene, without museums, or galleries,” Benish noted. “They were making this incredibly vital art--it was without any of the institutional support, but they were still doing it. They would put up an exhibition in an old barn for a day, and then the police would come and close it down, and then they would start again. They just had this incredible strength that we don’t see very often. They haven’t fallen apart because they didn’t have that institutional support, and I think we, here, could really learn from it.” Benish added that just as the Los Angeles show is occuring at a critical time for the Czech artists, the Prague show also happened at a critical time for the Americans.

“Right when we left to go over there was when the whole Jesse Helms thing was just starting,” she said. “So it’s been very interesting to see the developments. It’s another irony of this whole show: we’ve seen the Czech art scene open right up and the whole American scene become more and more repressive.”

Even here in Los Angeles, things have not been easy, Benish noted. Practically all of the budget of $130,000 for both shows was raised in Los Angeles--the Czechs were able to pay for only the catalogues and posters in Prague--and most of that came in at the last minute.

“A lot of people have just kind of pitched in and said, ‘How can we help?’ ” said Benish, who noted that an April fund-raiser at the home of Jane Fonda “put us over the hump” in enabling the Czech works to be brought in. (Funders have included the Lannan Foundation, New York’s New School for Social Research, art collectors Eileen and Peter Norton and Marcia Weisman, and artist Ed Moses. The U.S. Information Agency also donated a few plane tickets for the Czechoslovakian artists “at the very last minute,” Benish said.)

Benish noted that she will continue to raise funds--in an attempt to “pay off our debts”--during the show through the sale of T-shirts, posters and catalogues. In addition, a fund-raising auction of works by the American artists in the exhibition will be held in Palos Verdes tonight.

The American artists participating in “Dialogue”--whose works done in response to their experiences in Prague will be shown at the Arroyo Arts Collective--are Benish, Kim Abeles, Dawn Arrowsmith, Mark Cervenka, Habib Kheradyar, Robert Kingston, Deborah Lawrence, Karl Matson, Leland Means, Christian Mounger, Andrea Nadell, Kirk Phillips, Jim Uyekawa, Jeffrey Vallance and David Wells.

The Czechoslovakian artists in “Dialogue” are Michal Blazek, Tomas Cisarovsky, Stanislav Divis, Ivan Kafka, Vladimir Kokolia, Jan Merta, Vladimir Merta, Stefan Milkov, Tomas Ruller, Margita Titlova and Josef Zacek.

Here is a listing of events related to “Dialogue: Prague/L.A.”:

Today: Lecture by co-curators Barbara Benish and Zdenka Gabalova and performance artist Tomas Ruller (Art Center College of Design, 1700 Lida St., Pasadena, (213) 413-5857). 11:30 a.m.

Today: Auction of works by participating L.A. artists and presentations by Czechoslovakian Civic Forum members Ivan Gobal and Jan Urban (1532 Espinosa Circle, Palos Verdes Estates, (213) 539-5490). 7-9 p.m.

Friday: Opening reception for exhibition of 11 Prague artists (Otis/Parsons Gallery, 2401 Wilshire Blvd., (213) 251-0555, through Aug. 18). 6-9 p.m.

Saturday: Reception for the artists (Karl Bornstein Gallery, 1658 1/2 10th St., Santa Monica, (213) 452-4210). noon-2 p.m.

Saturday: “Artistic Expression and Political Freedom: An International Dialogue,” symposium (Santa Monica Museum of Art, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica, (213) 399-0433). 2 p.m.

Saturday: Opening reception for “Three Installations,” works by Czech artists (Santa Monica Museum of Art, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica, (213) 399-0433, through July 15). 7-10 p.m.

Sunday: Performance by Thomas Ruller (Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro, (213) 519-1874). 7 p.m.

July 6: Opening reception for exhibition of works by L.A. and Czech artists, includes “Open Mike Night” for the artists, and performances, films and music (Arroyo Arts Collective, 50th and York, Highland Park, (213) 413-5857, through July 27). noon-5 p.m.

July 18: “The Open Situation,” workshop led by performance artist Tomas Ruller (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 1804 Industrial St., (213) 624-5650). $30. 7-10 p.m.