IVAN PROKOP
17. 6. 2011 - 28. 8. 2011
Portrait exhibition of the Czech and foreign music scene personalities.
Much has changed in the last quarter of the century, during which time Ivan Prokop has intensively been pursuing the photographing of musicians, concerts and music festivals. As to our country, above all, the regime has changed. The consequence of the change was the fact that Prokop could, from the semi-official music club scene that represented (among others) also one of the focal points of disagreement with the real socialistic climate, focus his attention even on venues where „only the music“ was concerned and joy of meeting with really the greats of the world popular music. Therefore, in the process, in the view-finder of his camera appeared protagonists of both local and foreign counterculture, and global megastars that he, after the borders had been opened, took photos of at countless concerts, festivals and parades. The slightly mysterious title of this exhibition concisely describes the circumstances during which many of the photographs were created. That is to say that Photopass entitles the distinguished photographers to take photos at great concerts, usually for a period of the three first songs. Such an activity requires considerable skill (or extraordinary luck) as there is little time. However, the relatively great number of the photographs exhibited indicates that so lucky could not be even the greatest favourite of Fortune. Logically, the result is that Ivan Prokop relies on his talent and skill. Usually, such individuals are lucky.
The curatorial intention of this exposition, luckily in harmony with the author, was (said together with Bob Dylan) „ to bring all of it back home“. The individual photos at this exhibition follow neither a time centre line, nor are lined up according to music genres. The twenty-eight selected pictures represent a concord of the author and exhibition curators´ feelings into one particular moment. The lower, „accompanying band“ of photos is an invitation to the „depository“ of this unique collection with a strong warning that any of them could have been, at another moment and another state of mind of the authors of the exhibition, a part of the „great twenty-eight“. The photos accompany key lyrics of several portrayed musicians – let me name, for all of them, the Rolling Stones´ (I can´t get no) Satisfaction. Finally, it is fit to point out that none of the musicians pictured at this exhibition is to be seen twice. It is no coincidence.
Karel Haloun and Luděk Kubík, curators of the exhibition
He was born in 1954, he works as a freelance photographer and a visual artist. Above all, he is engaged in music and theatre photography, he is an author, or co-author, of many audiovisual carrier covers. He cooperates both with noted inland and foreign music festivals, publishing houses, periodicals and musicians.
In the ´70s and ´80s he was an activist in the Union of Jazz Musicians´ Section, in which he took part in the realization of publications and printed matter. He also cooperated on the Prague Jazz Days festival organization. From 1991 to 2005 he worked on visual and publishing concept of Bonton music publishing (later Sony BMG Music Entertainment). At present, apart from photography, visual designs and realization of printed matter, he is also engaged in the production of audiovisual carriers, books, exhibitions, concerts and festivals.
He exhibited his photographs at several group and solo exhibitions. As an author, he participated in the publishing of a number of books (Jiří Moravčík: “Celtic music”, “In the African crocodile´s muzzle”, “When a song beats windows with its wings”, Jiřina Chrastilová: “Nine Jewish ways”, Zdeněk Vřešťál: “No, Stainless does not get rusty”, Ondřej Bezr and Michal Šanda: “… and that´s blues”).
Ivan Prokop is a member of the Association of Professional Photographers and Syndicate of Journalists.
