Fotograf Magazine

[ref]Text: Slovo jako slovo / Word as Word is used in Valoch’s own typescript of A4 size,Malá pocta Bohumile Grögerové / A Small Ode to Bohumila Grögerová, 1982.[/ref] From the start of Valoch’s active existence in the art world, his work has been inseparably tied to curatorial and theoretical activities; one de facto creates the other. As Valoch himself says, when writing his theoretical texts he draws upon his experiences and attempts to interpret for others the works of artists he really likes. And so the following characterisation essentially applies to Valoch the artist, as well as to the poet, curator, critic, musician, theoretician and collector or pedagogue – in Valoch’s person these activities often influence and blend into one another. Valoch’s world is a reflection on language; its image, semantic and relational ties. He is primarily interested in work using a multi-form method; work that uses the language of geometry, visual and conceptual poetry, graphic music and phonic poetry, conceptual and post-conceptual photography, installations (text and discursive), events and interventions in nature. These are expressions that appeared in art and developed mainly after 1945 and disrupted existing artistic categories. Both place and time are important in characterising the works of Jiří Valoch; moments when he stepped onto the artistic and literary scene – the situation in Brno in the 1960s was significantly distinct, for example, from the one in Prague. In one of his memoir texts Valoch mentions the search for different forms of communication was always typical to Brno.[ref]Brno circle.[/ref]