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Jindřich Štyřský: Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream and Eroticism in Surrealist Photography & Collage: 1929–1948

March 6, 1997 - May 3, 1997

Ubu Gallery presented two concurrent exhibitions exploring the interrelated themes of eroticism and dreams in Surrealist photography and collage. The eminent Czech avant-garde artist, Jindřich Štyřský (1899–1942), who was closely allied with the Parisian Surrealists, and who was the subject of Ubu Gallery’s inaugural exhibition in 1994, masterfully investigated the themes of eroticism and dreams in a series of publications between 1930 and 1933. These included his periodical, Erotiká Revue, and the six volumes released by his private press, Edition 69. Štyřský believed that in pornography he had found a destabilizing medium that could be used to subvert established social and artistic norms. The culmination of Štyřský’s involvement with pornography was the release of his erotic masterpiece, Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream, in Prague in May 1933. It is now extremely rare (perhaps 20 surviving examples of the original book). Ubu Gallery exhibited three copies of the publication, as well as published a new edition of the book with full-color reproductions of the original collages and translations of the original Czech texts into English. The simultaneous exhibition Eroticism in Surrealist Photography & Collage, 1929 – 1948, presented additional works in a related vein by Štyřský and several other Surrealist artists.

ARTISTS
Hans Bellmer, Janusz Maria Brzeski, Georges Hugnet, Man Ray, André Racz, Jindřich Štyřský

RESOURCES
Exhibition checklist
Press release
Ubu Gallery facsimile of Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream
Announcement edition ubu #12

A facsimile edition of Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream in English and with color reproductions of the collages, which was produced in conjunction with the exhibition, is available for purchase at the Ubu Gallery shop.

Another 2018 facsimile edition of Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream in English and in appearance true to the original version of the book with 10 tipped-in b/w illustrations is available for purchase through the publisher, Mörel Books.

PRESS
Infosurr / Oeuvres / No. 14 / June 1997 / R.W.
Review / “Jindřich Štyřský” / March 15, 1997 / Gianfranco Mantegna
The Art Newspaper / Dealer’s Gazette / April 1997
The New York Observer / From Ecstacy of Serrano to Boring Barney / April 28, 1997 / A.D. Coleman
Time Out New York / Art / Tim Griffin / 1 reproduction
Photo Metro / “Letter From: New York” / A.D. Coleman

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FROM THE UBU GALLERY SHOP
Jindřich Štyrský: Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream
Jindřich Heisler & Jindřich Štyrský: On the Needles of These Days
Behind the Surrealist Curtain: Sex, Sensuality & Silence