Dear friends of BBLA, 

To heed the initiative of Mayor Bloomberg "Moving Cars of the Streets", BBLA sold the Bohemian National Hall to Park-a-Lot, Inc. from Poughkeepsie, and thus turned the famous landmark into a giant garage. Obviously the main incentive behind this abrupt decision was not only replacing the cars on our block with frolicking neighbors, but the obscene sum of money from the sale. Even an article by the Boca Raton Herald quoted our treasurer Georgina Silhan-Sager saying: "Our Check heritage is important but cash is cash." During our board meeting some trustees objected ... one even suggested that our fiduciary duty was to keep the building, but because we could not find a dictionary to crack the meaning of the word 'fiduciary', the majority approved the sale.

Let it be clear though that we actually did enjoy our Bohemian National Hall for those long 117 years. Even last month, the month of March, we happily held many lovely events here, for instance the Spring Musicale concert. I was very proud of the fact that we organized an initial kick-off meeting at the Bohemian National Hall for a group of Czech biologists with their American counterparts. In addition, we hosted the first board meeting of the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation.

So as I write this on the very first day of April, usually the day when those with infantile minds are prone to pranks, I do want to thank you all for your continuous support you express over and over for this bunch of Bohemians.

    

Joseph Balaz, President

Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association 

Czech Printmaking, Tradition and Excellence

by Katerina Kyselica

A rare exhibition of Czech prints this March in New York City allowed for a brief viewing of prints by renowned contemporary Czech printmakers from the HOLLAR Association of Czech Graphic Artists in Prague. Although presented outside Bohemian National Hall at a Midtown printmaking gallery, the opening of the exhibition entitled "The Spiritual Dimension in Czech Printmaking" attracted a great crowd of New Yorkers, including Czech-American supporters of fine art printmaking.  

The exhibition featured over thirty etchings, lithographs, linocuts and mixed media works, showcasing the beauty of traditional Central European printmaking. Spirituality as the individual's inner path to understanding life is subjective and diverse, and so was the approach to the subject matter by the eleven Czech artists. Some of them presented biblical themes of the Old and New Testaments, others showed works whose origins dwell deep in the realm of the inner-self. Few prints carried as strong a message about the state of modern society as Helena Horalkova's haunting black and white aquatint etchings inhabited by masses of expressively rendered human figures, marching in rows or crawling on shifting planes of futuristic landscapes.  

Talent for and emphasis on drawing and illustration was present in all of the featured works, including Eva Haskova's aquatint etching "Between Heaven and Earth". It is Karel Demel's work that I leave for the end though, for his etchings, such as "Messenger" or "Unicorn", show a rare gift for capturing movement and emotion. A virtuoso draftsman, Demel has mastered engraving, etching, drypoint and aquatint, which frees him to create astonishing portraits of human existence.

The exhibition offered an insight into the recent works of printmakers who represent Czech printmaking across Europe and worldwide. It is a generation of artists who lived in the communist Czechoslovakia with government dictating what art should be and do. Escaping to the inner world seemed, and in many cases was, the only way to feel freedom and independence. Spirituality, thus, is and has been for decades an integral part of their creative life.

Visit exhibition website for more information: www.kadsny.wix.com/czechprintmaking.  Full article will be published in April's issue of the Journal of the Print World.

Katerina Kyselica is a Czech-American artist, printmaker and writer based in New York City. She writes for Czech media (MF Dnes, Grapheion, Art&Antique, Design Magazine) and the American Journal of the Print World. She collaborates as a curator with BBLA Gallery, presenting Czech and Slovak art. Contact: katerina@kadsny.com.