Czech art makes its mark at area gallery

Deepa Bharath

For Barbara Benish, the last 11 years have been a journey.

The artist reminisces about riding her bike as a little girl to

the public library on the Balboa Peninsula to read all about

Czechoslovakia -- its history, culture and current affairs. It was a

part of her ancestry and heritage, and she was mystified and enamored

by it.

That passion to find her roots and trace her family history

followed Benish through her adulthood, taking her to Prague in 1992,

barely three years after the exit of the Communist regime in

Czechoslovakia. She fell in love with the country and architect Petr

Kalny, who is now her husband.

This week feels like a homecoming for Benish, who landed in Prague

as a Fulbright scholar, and then made the city her home.

She, along with another artist, will feature her work as part of a

special exhibit titled “Certain Remains, New Dialogue Los

Angeles/Prague” to commemorate the 15-year anniversary of a

collaborative exhibit by Southern California and Czechoslovakian

artists in 1989 that defied Communist sanctions and presaged the

final dissolution of Communist Czechoslovakia.

Benish’s sculptures and other works will be showcased at the

gallery along with paintings by Czech artist Vladimir Kokolia at the

Southern California Art Projects and Exhibitions gallery in Corona

del Mar starting Thursday through Sept. 6.

The exhibit’s opening had to be postponed from today to Thursday

because the container with the artwork was lost twice in transit,

Benish said.

The entire show is actually a series of exhibitions at six

Southern California venues featuring painting, sculpture,

installation and performance by artists -- 15 from the Czech Republic

and 15 from Los Angeles, she said.

“Half of them are the older generation of artists who were

featured in the art project 15 years ago, and the other half is the

newer generation of artists,” Benish explained.

The other exhibits include paintings, video and photography, she

said.

They come together in the sense that their work reflects the

thoughts and perceptions of a nation of people going through a

transition, she said.

“They’re either responding to it or ignoring it,” she said.

The surge of capitalism is visible in the Czech Republic, Benish

said.

“There are 39 McDonald’s franchises in Prague,” she said. “It’s

unbelievable.”

The exhibit is going to be a special one for the gallery, said

Corona del Mar resident Diane Nelson, who co-owns the space along

with Jeannie Denholm, who also lives in Newport Beach.

“This is not a typical exhibit, and these are the kind of art

projects we seek out,” she said.

Benish’s history with Newport Beach and her association with the

Czech Republic makes it even more special, Nelson said.

Benish’s main piece, featured at the Corona del Mar exhibit, is an

installation titled “The Bride in the Enclosed Garden.”

She describes it as an “illuminated cornucopia of white lace and

metal.”

The gray steel casing depicts a woman’s body draped with 127

meters of intricately woven white lace, Benish said. It took her

close to a year to complete the piece, she said.

Prague, a city charged with rich culture and ancient mystique,

gives Benish the artistic impetus she so craves.

“I love living there, because there is such an exchange of

cultures and languages,” she said. “It has a rich history of

literature and art that goes back generations.”