Jindřich Štyrský: Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream

Description

The eminent Czech avant-garde artist, Jindřich Štyrský (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. Štyrský believed that in pornography he had found a destabilizing medium that could be used to subvert established social and artistic norms. The culmination of Štyrský’s involvement with pornography was the release of his erotic masterpiece, Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream, in Prague in May 1933.

This edition was produced to accompany the exhibition Jindřich Štyřský: Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream and Eroticism in Surrealist Photography & Collage: 1929–1948 at Ubu Gallery (March 6 – May 3, 1997) of the original 1933 edition of Emilie Prichazi Ke Mne Ve Snu [Emilie comes to Me in a Dream] by Jindřich Štyrský and the original collages which were the maquettes for the photomontages contained therein.