The GMU edition is a publishing platform that not only ensures its own production, but also the promotion and distribution of the published titles. Our publishing scheme mirrors the gallery exhibitions. As of 2019, GMU focuses to publish quality titles such as monographs, study texts, educational texts, proceedings for professionals, or translations of notable works. Our publications are distributed across the Czech Republic, and therefore you can buy them not only in our e-shop, but they are also available at bookstores.
Following the Collection of Central and Eastern European Art, the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové has established a new translation series focused on modern and contemporary art in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of this series is to provide Czech art professionals with important theoretical texts concerning visual arts in these regions, as well as to provide a high-quality theoretical foundation for GMU’s key acquisition activities.
At the end of 2022, the gallery released its first publication in this new series, a Czech translation of the book “The Meanings of Modernism: A History of Polish Art after 1945” by the prominent Polish art theorist Piotr Piotrowski. First published in Poland in 1999, the book outlines the key moments of Polish visual art from the end of World War II to the 1990s. The next title in the series will be “Cultural Transformation” by Hungarian art historian Edit András, which references Piotr Piotrowski’s aforementioned work.
To systematize its publishing activity in 2021, GMU has established four editorial series, namely the Edition of Authorial Books and Monographs, Edition of Exhibition Catalogs and Accompanying Materials, Edition of Popular Science Publications, and Edition of Central and Eastern Europe. These editorial series cover the defined spectrum of titles with an emphasis on expertise, interdisciplinarity, contextualization, and complexity of the presented information.
In 2021, the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové, in collaboration with Eastern Front, published the authorial book “Attempt to Rediscover Reality” by Alena Kotzmannová. In the book, the artist presents her series of “Attempts” (from 2008 to 2019), which confront photos, prints, and objects arranged into meaningful sequences. The publication includes texts by contemporary art historians and curators (William Hunt, Edith Jeřábková, Martina Pachmanová, Michal Pěchouček, Tomáš Pospiszyl, Jiří Ptáček, Lenka Vítková, Radek Wohlmuth, Dušan Zahoranský).
Another publication is the authorial book by painter and tattoo artist Bronislava Orlická, published on the occasion of the “And the Mountain Will Dissolve” exhibition held from September 18 to November 28, 2021, at GMU. The publication “Bronislava Orlická” presents Orlická’s works presented at her exhibitions, supplemented with sketches, tattoo designs, and poetic texts by the author. Štěpán Marko is the graphic designer.
The editorial plan of GMU for 2021 includes:
Alena Kotzmannová, Attempt to Rediscover Reality, ISBN
978-80-87605-45-5 (authorial book)
Bronislava Orlická, Štěpán Marko eds., Bronislava Orlická, ISBN
978-80-87605-66-0 (authorial book)
Martina Vítková, Petr Vaňous, Alexander Peroutka et al., Milan Langer,
Hradec Králové 2021. ISBN 978-80-87605-42-4 (collective monograph)
František Zachoval, Petra Příkazská, Jiřina Vyorálková (edd.),
Original? The Art of Imitating Art, Hradec Králové 2021. ISBN 978-80-87605-63-9 (critical catalog)
Accompanying texts to exhibitions:
Hana Janečková, Marie Lukáčová – Frugo, 05/06/21–29/08/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-49-3.
Jiří Ptáček, Late Intimacy – Pavel Baňka, Veronika Šrek Bromová, Michal Kalhous, Alena Kotzmannová, Markéta Othová, Rudolf Samohejl, Lucia Sceranková, Tomáš Svoboda, Aleksandra Vajd, Lenka Glisníková & Karolína Matušková, 01/06/21–29/08/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-48-6.
Nina Moravcová, Tereza Severová (Dalibor Chatrný, Ivan Kafka) – Tree in the middle of the landscape, 05/06/21–29/08/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-50-9.
Anna Zemanová, Bronislava Orlická (Jan Zrzavý) – And the mountain will dissolve, 18/09/21–28/11/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-56-1.
Martin Mazanec, Yes No Yes – Video Studio ft. Martin Mazanec & Jan Šrámek, 18/09/21–28/11/21, ISBN 978-80-87605-57-8.
Václav Janoščík, Pavla Sceranková – Miloš, 18/09/21–22/05/22, ISBN 978-80-87605-54-7.
Petra Příkazská, František Vyskočil, František Zachoval, Original? Art of Imitating Art, 01/10/21–27/02/22, ISBN 978-80-87605-58-5.
In 2020, Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové collaborated with Jindřich Chalupecký Society and BiggBoss Books to publish a book by Matyáš Chochola called Scent of Success. Scent of Success is an artistic experiment utilizing the lettrism technique, where words and images are intuitively arranged to form new compositions and free units. The book also contains Chochola’s gestic word art creations. People who helped create the book include Alexander Puškin, who contributed raw animal drawings and whole-page surreal visions. Ondřej Šorm is responsible for graphic design, while Petra Nováková is the book editor. The book was made possible by funds provided by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
New permanent exhibitions were accompanied by two comprehensive catalogues, authored by the exhibition curators. The Last Fifty Years, written by Tomáš Pospiszyl, a leading Czech art scholar, presents a range of topics covering various art forms, approaches and trends, omitting the traditional chronological point of view. Instead, it emphasizes diversity of art language of a large group of male and female artists, including the young generation. The Last Century – Twenty Artists is another catalogue that drops the traditional chronological point of view. Instead, this publication chooses to present works of 20 distinctive artists. It is written by Petra Příkazká, who is s GMU Curator. It includes texts by Kateřina Křížkovská and Judita Kožíšková. Both catalogues were made possible by funds provided by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Anna Štysová was the graphic designer of both catalogues.
In 2020, GMU Edition published a few leaflets to accompany its temporary exhibitions that includes texts by our curators. Cindy Kutíková and Jiří Mocek were the graphic designers of the leaflets:
Two more leaflets were published in 2019. About the Building included a text by Ladislav Zikmund-Lender, an architecture historian. The leaflets focus on the history of the building. The second one, called Stations of the Cross in the 21st Century is a guide to a collection of sculptures, installed outdoors between villages Stanovice and Žireč near Kuks. The guide was written by Kateřina Křížkovská.
2019 saw publication of a large volume dedicated to the life of Josef Doubrava, Bishop of Hradec Králové. The book explains that the bishop was a lover of art. He worked closely with František Urban, whom he commissioned to paint the interiors of a church in Grunta (Kolín District). The book includes texts authored by Tereza Cachová, Marcel Fišer, Judita Kožíšková, Kateřina Křížkovská, Radek Norbert Martinek, Lucie Podhrázská Dušková, Petra Příkazská and Zuzana Vávrová. Publishing of the book was made possible by financial support od Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and Hradec Králové City Council.
Two more exhibition catalogues were published in 2019: Jiří Načeradský & Lubormír Typlt: A Cross Section is an exhibition catalogue published in conjunction with exhibition of the same name held at GMU. It contains an essay written by Petr Vaňous, who was the exhibition curator. The essay covers life and work of Jiří Načeradský and his pupil Lubomír Typlt, a contemporary artist. Another catalogue that the gallery published in 2019 is called Landscape Hidden Inside the World – Pictures of the Orlické Mountains. The catalogue includes text written by the exhibition curator Klára Zářecká and Vlastimil Tokoš, art theorist. The catalogue lists authors who were active in the geographical region of the Orlické Mountains over the period spanning from early 19th century to present. The catalogue also served as a guide for the exhibition, each chapter corresponding to a part of the exhibition.
