plywood, black and white xerox prints, red textile, fan, 198 × 50 cm

purchased in 2023 with support from the Czech Republic Ministry of Culture

Even in this early work, Lenka Klodová’s conceptual thinking becomes evident. It presents an eroticized sign of the female body as an exploited instrument. While Marilyn Monroe—in the iconic photograph to which this work may be compared—stands provocatively above a gust of air lifting her skirt, she modestly shields her crotch with a graceful gesture. Klodová’s wall object seems to reflect a radical shift into the era of pornographic excess. The dress is no longer virginal white but crimson, the girl does not stand but lies down, and the gesture of playful modesty is replaced by one of surrender. Nothing now obstructs the voyeur’s gaze. The female body, rendered in this way, becomes a sharp critique of its exploitation in advertising, marketing, and a society shaped by sexually predatory stereotypes. The context of the work’s creation is also crucial—particularly the “low” materiality of plywood and black-and-white Xerox prints in the 1990s, a new and rapidly spreading medium. The artist explores this visual form and appropriates it into the art world, including its technical imperfections.

Translation created with the assistance of AI (ChatGPT).