Jitka Hanzlová

In her photographic series, Jitka Hanzlová repeatedly observes the relationship between the individual and context in which they live. She explores the ways in which the home and its surroundings imprint themselves indelibly upon identity. Whether this involve everyday scenes from life in a North Bohemian village, portraits of women from the Afro-Caribbean community in London, or poetic images of forests, the artist’s photographs probe constantly into one of the most basic human needs, namely, the need to belong. This is an extension of her own forced exile in Essen, Germany, which became her refuge after fleeing communist Czechoslovakia 1982 and had a great influence on her.

Her heuristic investigation began in the key series Rokytník (1990–1994), her native village in the Náchod region, where she returned after the fall of the Berlin Wall and nine years of exile. Hanzlová uses the camera to rediscover a place of which she both is and is no longer a part. We see the laundry hanging in a garden full of wild flowers (Bez názvu / Untitled, 1997), a little boy playing with a goat on a hill overlooking the village (Bez názvu / Untitled, 1991), a gamekeeper with a shot deer (Bez názvu / Untitled, 1995), a happy father throwing his son into the air (Bez názvu / Untitled (Petr Flying), 1992) – these portraits of figures, objects or landscapes represent the authenticity and permanence of everyday life in a place that has become a kind of time box in a world full of options in which too much has changed over the years. The past is presented as harmonious, though extremely distant: we can no longer return.

In parallel with Rokytník she created the analogous collection Bewohner (1990–1994; German for “residents”). This transports us into the urban environment of European cities. Instead of the almost idyllic, reflected nostalgia of Rokytník we encounter a built-up, strictly structured landscape, whose residents (people and animals) seem like isolated, alienated objects. Despite the freedom of the modern “Western” world, they are imprisoned in the dehumanising, living organism of the metropolis, like a penguin trying desperately to escape through the glass of an aquarium (Bez názvu / Untitled, 1990). A similar contrast is exploited in the later work Hier (2005–2010), which places romantic shots of the Czech landscape (Bez názvu / Untitled (Hortensienbaum), 2005) alongside industrial Essen (Bez názvu / Untitled (Stadium), 2008): both places are the artist’s home, though one cannot fail to notice a certain tension.

Another genre that features in Hanzlová’s work is the portrait, especially of women, which can be traced right back to her two first cycles. As the driving force behind an entire project it is first seen in Female (1997–2000), later in Brixton (2002), and finally developed in a homage to Leonardo da Vinci entitled There Is Something I Do Not Know (2007–2013). Although thematically these are different cycles, Hanzlová does not forsake the overarching theme of identity and the basic needs of humankind to belong somewhere. In Female she turns her attention upon herself, her own personality as woman. This also creates the premise on the basis of which she identifies with portraits of all ages, nationalities and occupations (Cathana, Uptown, 1999; Mae, Coney Island, 2000). Femininity is perceived as “the first difference that, right from the start, is recorded in our passport and continuously raises many questions” [1], and this is one of the reasons the artist uses the word “female” rather than “woman”. However, this is not to attempt an objective typology of the female section of society in the style of August Sander, but more a study of female individuality, freedom, an emotional, highly sensitive, non-verbal statement.

In her following series this premise of identification with the person portrayed disappears. The photographic chiaroscuro portraits inspired by the renaissance masters in There Is Something I Do Not Know represent staged studies of the various identities a person can adopt for themselves (Bez názvu, Julia, 2011; Bez názvu, Greco, 2011), while Brixton documents a group of Afro-Caribbean women in Brixton, London, who find themselves in a situation similar to that the artist was in while in exile in Germany, experiencing the feeling of being alien in their own home Bez názvu (Nana), 2002; Bez názvu (Black), 2002).

When one looks at Jitka Hanzlová’s photographic practice, it would appear that she herself retains something of this original feeling of dislocation, even after more than thirty years of living outside her homeland. She continues to return to her native Rokytník, rediscovering its traditions and forests (the cycle Forest, 2000–2005), even as she continues to explore traditions (the cycle from Japan Cotton Rose, 2004, 2006) or identities (Horse, 2007–2014) that are alien to her Czechness. Her photographs are lyrical statements, bridges to memories that become the basis for the future[2]. It is this cyclical relationship between proximity and distance, loss and rediscovery, that allow us to confront our own identity: within a new context and with new experiences one not only loses something, but one gains something too.

[1] Jitka Hanzlová in conversation with Pavel Baňka, Fotograf issue 1 / Portrait, 2002, 42
[2] Berger, John: “Preface” in Jitka Hanzlová: Forest, Steidl, London, 2006

2017     
Cotton Rose, monografie, esej Ulf Erdmann-Ziegler, Steidl Verlag Göttingen
The History of European Photography 1900 – 2000, volume 3, Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, SK
Seht, da ist der Mensch / Behold the Man, Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, catalogue, Magdeburg, Německo
Umbrüche: Industrie – Landschaft – Wandel, MuT – Museum unter Tage, Stiftung Situation Kunst, Bochum, Německo
The Photographic I – Other Pictures, S.M.A.K. Gent, cahier, Belgie 2016     
Trockenhauben lügen nicht, Alexandra Wach, a r t magazin, Německo
Pferde ohne Mädchen, with an Essay by Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, B L A U Kunstmagazin Nr. 16/2916, Německo
Mit anderen Augen /With Different Eyes. Das Porträt in der zeitgenössischen Fotografie, The Portrait in Contemporary Photography, Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Kolín, Kunstmuseum Bonn, catalogue, Snoeck Verlag, Německo 2015     
HORSE, monografie, předmluva John Berger, Koenig Books, Londýn, UK
Queen Size Female artists from the Olbricht Collection, catalogue, Me Collectors Room Berlin, Německo
Beastly/Tierisch, catalogue, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Spector Books, Švýcarsko
European Portrait Photography since 1990, Frits Gierstberg, BOZAR Books and Prestel Publishing, Munich, London, New York 2014     
Train Your Gaze, 2nd ed., Bloomsbury Publishing, Londýn, UK
Selbstbewusst, stark und geheimnisvoll, Christa Benzer, derStandard, Rakousko
Des Pferdes Seele, Kunstmagazin Parnas, Vídeň, Rakousko 2013     
HIER, monografie, esej Terezia Mora Koenig Books, Londýn, UK
John Berger, Understanding a Photograph, Penguin Books, Londýn, UK
No place like home, catalogue, Kunsthalle HGN Dudenstadt, DZ Bank, Německo
Artists for Tichy – Tichy for Artists, Collection Foundation Tichy Ocean, catalogue, GASK Kutná Hora, Česká republika 2012     
Jitka Hanzlová, texty Isabel Tejeda, Zdenek Felix, John Berger, Terezia Mora, Jesús     Carrillo Castillo, Fundacion Mapfre, Madrid
Der Mensch und seine Objekte, catalogue, Museum Folkwang Essen, Steidl Verlag, Německo
Magisch aufgeladen, by Georg Imdahl, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 3.4.2012, Německo
Landschaft als Weltsicht, catalogue, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Wienand Verlag, Německo
Stedelijk Collection – Reflections on the Collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, catalogue, nai010 publishers, Nizozemsko  2011     
Jitka Hanzlova/Annette & Rudolf Kicken Berlin, Cahier 2, eseje Janos Frecot, Rudolf Sagmeister, Kicken Berlin
XL Photography, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, catalogue, Hatje Cantz, Německo
Photography Calling, catalogue, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Steidl Verlag, Německo
Aires de jeux, champ de tensions, Urban Photography in Europe from 1970’s, catalogue, Pavillon Populaire, Montpellier, Francie 2010     
Landschaft ohne Horizont, catalogue, Museum Schloss Moyland, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Německo
Ruhrblicke, Sanaa, Zeche Zollverein, Essen, catalogue, Steidl Verlag, Německo
Henze Project, fifteen Portraits, Ikonen des Selbstseins, Marietta Pieckenbrock, RUHR., Německo
Monopol #5/2010, portfolio, HIER, essay by Ulf Erdmann-Ziegler, Německo
The Sublime (Documents of Contemporary Art), Whitechapel, Simon Morley, Londýn, UK 2009     
The Museum, The Collection, catalogue, Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, Itálie
Sehnsucht nach dem Abbild – Das Portrait im Wandel der Zeit, catalogue, Kunsthalle Krems, Rakousko
Das Porträt. Fotografie als Bühne, catalogue, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien, Rakousko
PastPresentFuture, catalogue, Bank Austria Kunstforum, Wien, Rakousko
WELT – BILDER 3, catalogue, Helmhaus Zürich, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Curych, Švýcarsko 2008     
Stille Landschaften, catalogue, Städtische Galerie Lüdenscheid, Německo
Verschwindende Landschaften, catalogue, Nadine Barth, DuMont – Buchverlag, Kolín, Německo 2006     
In the Face of History, European Photographers in the 20th century, catalogue, Barbican Centre, Londýn, UK
Die Liebe zum Licht. Fotografie im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert, catalogue, Kunstmuseum Celle, Německo
Fotomuseum Antwerpen, magazine, Belgie
Vitamin PH, catalogue, Phaidon, Londýn, UK
ONE OF A KIND, Portraits from LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, catalogue, LaSalle Bank N.A. Chicago, USA
Orion magazine #11/12 2006, John Berger: Betwen Forest, MA/USA
Der Kontrakt des Fotografen, catalogue, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Německo
Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set, Lynne Warren, Routledge, New York, USA 2005     
FOREST, monografie, esej J. Berger, Steidl Verlag, Německo
Der Traum vom ich, der Traum von der Welt, Aus der Sammlung des Fotomuseums, catalogue, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Švýcarsko
EVN Sammlung 95/05, Kunst und Diskurs vor und nach Rokytník, catalogue, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, EVN Sammlung, Rakousko
Japan Today vol. 7, catalogue, EU-Japan Fest Japan Commitee, Tokyo, Japonsko
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, catalogue, Collection Olbricht, Edition Braus, Německo
Donna, Donne, catalogue, ART for the World, A. von Fürstenberg, Guinti Editore Firenze-Milano, Itálie

http://www.yanceyrichardson.com/artists/jitka-hanzlova
https://www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org/en/collect/artists/jitka-hanzlova.php
https://www.georgkargl.com/en/artist/jitka-hanzlova
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/jitka-hanzlova
https://fotografmagazine.cz/magazine/portret/portfolia/jitka-hanzlova/
https://ursstahel.ch/a-different-flow-of-time-jitka-hanzlova