Timothy Allen a toujours été un passionné de lieux abandonnés. Centrant ses clichés sur la capacité d’évoquer des images du passé dans le présent, ce dernier a trouvé dans cet ancien bâtiment de l’ère communiste à Buzludzha en Bulgarie le terrain de jeu parfait pour fournir cette série incroyable « Forget Your Past ».
The source for Communist-era Czech vintage design treasures
Adam Štěch Providing arguably the most comprehensive collection of salvaged modernist design from the former Czechoslovakia or Eastern and Central Europe is Prague-based Nanovo. Founded by Adam Karásek and Jiří Mrázek two years ago, the online shop is a platform for collecting and selling vintage, mostly anonymous pieces from furniture…
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Communist-era woodturning from a master Czech craftsman
by Adam Štěch
American artists like J. B. Blunk, Wendell Castle and Jack Rogers Hopkins are established heavyweights in the world of design and certainly represent the “haute couture” style of woodworking, but Czech master craftsman and turner Antonín Hepnar continues to work in relative anonymity behind the former Iron Curtain from his studio in the small village of Čakovičky near Prague.
Working in the art of woodturning since the 1950s, Hepnar is a unique creative mind in a local design scene traditionally associated with glass and porcelain. According to the artist and designer, wood is the most important material in our lives. “Man is born into the wooden cradle, sits on the wooden chair his whole life, and dies into the wooden coffin,” says Hepnar.
Thanks to his philosophy and love for wood, Hepnar has created various turned objects throughout his career. His vases, bowls, candlesticks and lamps, as well as large sculptural objects or realizations for architecture and interiors have been produced exclusively on the spinning axis of the lathe, a primitive and genial machine with seemingly never-ending possibilities.
Hepnar was a very productive artist during the former Communist era through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, making functional and decorative home accessories for the only Czech design gallery at the time—Dílo. Inspired by Baroque, modernism and folk art, his objects represented traditional craft with a modern edge. He sold well—and very quickly—due to the lack of quality aesthetic objects available at the time.
After a series of exhibitions devoted to Hepnar in Prague, his work has become well-known and now, the master craftsman is at work once again. Next to his own re-issued editions of popular products, such as his lovely 1950s Amanita lamp, or the striking abstract owl decorative sculpture from 1983, he continues to discover new possibilities in the world of woodmaking. His latest “Bosáž” series of bowls made of very thin turned wood and deformed by steam is a handcrafted gem.
Antonín Hepnar sells his work in the Prague-based DOX by Qubus concept store.
Images courtesy of Jaroslav Moravec, Matěj Činčera, Antonín Hepnar archive and the Phillips de Pury Archive.
Exploring the graphic expertise and vision behind Communist-era posters
The ideological imagery from the height of Communist rule in central and Eastern Europe has become a familiar motif in the west in the decades since its fall. From the illustrations of bourgeois fat cats to the classic “Niet” posters depicting a stern and handsome man refusing alcohol, the political and cultural lines drawn by these materials are clear. What is less recognized on this side of the former Iron Curtain is the technical ability and graphic skill that went into composing posters representing the industrious superiority of the former Communist empire.
Edited by Stefania Carla Duschka and Ciprian Isac of the creative Romanian publishing house Atelierul de Grafica, “Iron Curtain Graphics” explores the graphic qualities and composition of Communist-era posters from Romania, ranging from political propaganda to workplace safety warnings. Looking beyond the geo-political and social purpose of these images, the book gives some insight into the skill, thought and beauty of imagery that is, as the book’s subtitle states, “Eastern European Design Created Without Computers”.
While graphically stunning, many of the book’s images represent Communist ideals without humor or irony, raising the question of artistic value versus technical skill and messaging. The posters cover a dynamic range of topics, in propaganda images that clearly resemble those popularized in modern media and that can be found at trinket stores throughout the former Communist states.
The section on Labor Safety offers a unique look at imagery that was created for completely utilitarian purposes but is composed at the same level as those used to promote core political and social ideas, drawing fascinating parallels between the advanced graphics employed for propaganda and mundane instructions and warnings alike.
The comprehensive collection presented in “Iron Curtain Graphics” is a crucial read for anyone interested in the culture, design and politics of that time period. The bold representation of strength, industry and the symbiotic relationship between man and machine—the depiction of the perfect working mechanism—juxtaposed with highly stylized graphics to inform about safety offers a truly unique vision of the scope of graphic design before the fall of the Berlin wall.
“Iron Curtain Graphics” is available through Gestalten and Amazon.
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