The conceptual artist, performer, and writer Milan Kozelka (1948?2014) left an indelible trace in the Czech art, especially that of the 1980s and 1990s. From the 1960s, he wrote poetry, which is today viewed as a reflection of American beat movement.

At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, Kozelka turned to Action Art and soon became a respected figure on the local art scene. Simultaneously with his Body-Art performances, he pursued fine art via conceptual drawings and Land-Art installations. He participated in numerous alternative exhibitions held by the local independent scene, such as A Meeting at the Sparta Tennis Courts (1982). Kozelka always followed the most topical artistic trends, and his restless nature propelled him into more and more projects. During the 1980s, he performed, drew, and became a crucial organizer of the unofficial cultural traffic. In the 1990s, he initiated the Karlovy Vary branch of the Prague alternative organization, Artforum, resulting in an array of exhibitions, philosophy lectures, literary festivals, and concerts. He also cooperated on many regional events, mainly in the cities of Olomouc and Brno, published and endeavored in the fields of performance and editorial activity.

Kozelka’s multilayered personality can serve as a perfect illustration of the totalitarian period experienced by the then-Czechoslovakia in all its complexity and ambiguity and the individual’s resistance and fragility against the pressure of the state power. This exhibition is the first to present the whole scale of the Kozelka’s oeuvre. It ranges from his multimedia, conceptual, and performance art to his poetry and novels and many other diverse activities. Also present is the documentation of some of his hitherto unknown Body- and Land-Art works and various documents found in the archive of the artist’s friend and collector, Vladimír Meister. 

Kozelka’s multilayered personality can serve as a perfect illustration of the totalitarian period experienced by the then-Czechoslovakia in all its complexity and ambiguity and the individual’s resistance and fragility against the pressure of the state power. This exhibition is the first to present the whole scale of the Kozelka’s oeuvre. It ranges from his multimedia, conceptual, and performance art to his poetry and novels and many other diverse activities. Also present is the documentation of some of his hitherto unknown Body- and Land-Art works and various documents found in the archive of the artist’s friend and collector, Vladimír Meister.