A Woman is a Woman

Having gone into it a bit skeptically, I left his ICP exhibition as a passionate convert in favor of the work of Miroslav Tichy.

Tichy, a Czech eccentric artist, not only takes his photographs by way of homemade equipment (most of the time out of cardboard and waste of production), but he is absolutely and utterly uninterested with his own recent success in the art world. He says he takes his pictures, prints them, and throws them away. The spots, the curled edges, the tears, that is all part of the beauty, not to mention the makeshift cardboard frames he sometimes creates. See some of those after the jump.

Tichy's photographs are predominantly of the female form. One of the places he frequented in his town of Kyjov-the setting of nearly all of his images- was the public swimming pool. They also introduce the idea of capturing time when "insignificant" or ordinary things take place, as one exhibit blurb read, the banal, the things that happen as time passes when "nothing" is happening. It's quite a dreamy concept.

The work is a bit controversial because of Tichy's disinterest in creating high quality prints, sharp images, etc. But I came out of the exhibit completely moved, emotional almost. Whatever the speculation, to me his images were celebratory of women, about unconventional beauty, private moments, and little details. And with that feeling stirred, wouldn't you say it is a success?

All images: Untitled, by Miroslav Tichy, Courtesy of the Foundation Tichy Ocean