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Artist: Jiři Kolář (Czech, 1914-2002)
Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. Kolar first encountered surrealistic collages at the Mozarteum in Prague in 1934. He became a freelance author for Dílo in Prague, and later a co-founder of the "Gruppe 42" (an association of Czech artists and men of letters). In 1953, Kolar faced arrest due to a ban of certain forms of publication ban under stalinism, and remained encarcerated for a few months. His work responded to this time spent in jail, and the Stalinist regime through collage - representing destruction and fragmentation of the world Kolář inhabited. He focused on art with a Rollage technique starting 1959, and incorporated items from everyday life into works like zippers and hair. Kolar often combined art and poetry to make images and 3D works. In 1968, he received the prize of the central committee in Prague, and in 1969, he won the first prize at the X. Biennale of Sao Paulo. The work of Kolar has been featured and toured internationally in Japan, Canada, USA, and France.