Zachęta – National Gallery of Art

curator: Karolina Wiktor

One of the assumptions of Culture and Neuroscience conference is to present the works of a neurologically disabled person. The first edition, in 2014, was devoted to aphasis and quite naturally its featuredartist became the originator and curator of the project — Karolina Wiktor. This year the main theme is multiple sclerosis, therefore Karolina invited Iveta Pilařová — a Czech artist struggeling with this disease since her 18th birthday.

Iveta Pilařová (PhD, born 1975) graduated from the Academy of Arts and Design (AAAD) in Prague. She is the author of sculptures. installations, paintings, and videos. The main theme of her art is life with multiple sclerosisshown in a very personal way. She is not afraid of painfuland difficult subjects, though often approaches them with humour. Struggles with the bodyresulting from the limitations of the disease and  references to childhood and youth take different forms: from ceramic figurines of skiers and skaters  with Iveta's face, through the installation made of colourful walking sticks, and a video where we see the legs of people exercising in a rehabilitation pool, to embroidery on canvas showing the experiences  of a person suffering from MS — the everyday once and those resulting from various fears. The works of Iveta Pilařova are both poignant and witty. Their simplicity, sincerity, and distance — both towards herself and the world — are very appealing.