Kula

Vlastimil Kula’s photographs are mysterious and defiantly sexy. Frustrated by what he calls the “boredom of pornography” and the mechanical depiction of sex, Kula aims to distance himself from traditional genres by exploring uncharted territory and pushing the limits of what people consider “art.” He, his wife, and various men and women are the subjects of his shadowy monochromes in which sex, taboo, love, passion, and rebellion are the key themes. That he spent most of his life in opposition to his country’s Communist government fueled his desire to bring out into the open what people refuse to recognize in themselves. His photographs attest to this noble struggle. The photographer: Born in Czechoslovakia in 1950, Vlastimil Kula traveled to England, Canada, and the USA before being required to return to his native country following the Soviet invasion. He studied art photography at the Prague Academy of Arts and now lives and works in Cheb, the town where he grew up.