Value: $680

Bring home a striking, limited-edition chromogenic colour print by acclaimed Edmonton photographer Jan Novotny. Beautifully framed at 24 x 24 inches, this artwork captures the depth, detail, and distinctive artistic perspective that has defined Novotny’s six-decade career.

Artist Statement
“I am a local photographer who has worked in a wide range of styles, ranging from street photography to conceptual, abstract, and, I need to admit, purely decorative images. I have been engaged in photography since the mid-1960s, when I studied photography in Prague (then Czechoslovakia).

In Canada (since 1968) I briefly worked in film laboratories in Toronto and Vancouver before becoming engaged in a different career. This gave me the creative freedom to pursue my ‘muse’ rather than worrying about how to pay the rent.”

Solo & Featured Shows:
1. 1976 – Selection of silver gelatin prints from Czechoslovakia, Latitude 53 Gallery (Curated by Harry Savage and Sylvain Voyer)
2. 1988 – Selection of silver gelatin prints from Canada, La Gare Café, Edmonton
3. 2010 – The Works Art & Design Festival, one-man show: “How to Know What We Eat”
4. 2011 – The Works Art & Design Festival, one-man show: “Interconnectedness of Things; Yin & Yang”
5. 2016 – The Works Art & Design Festival, one-man show: “Essential Convergence” (The artist was invited to speak about six life-size photograms of two couples.)
6. 2018 – Traveling exhibition (EIA, City Hall, U of A, Ross Sheppard High School) Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Half the images were Jan’s (1966–1968); the other half were from the 1988 “Velvet Revolution” by Tomki Němec, World Press Photo award-winning personal photographer to Václav Havel.

Public Work & Legacy
In addition to these shows, Jan has mounted images in various public spaces. His self-proclaimed “claim to fame” is a set of four large Dibond-mounted images that were stolen from the pillars under the Whyte Avenue bridge over Mill Creek Ravine — “I must have a collector!”

Donor:

Jan Novotny’s photography exists in public spaces, private collections, and—if you hold the winning bid—perhaps soon in your home.
To inquire about his work: jan@novotny.ca