Helena Kontova (16 November 1955,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

) is an art critic and curator based in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy, where she has been the editor of '' Flash Art International'' since 1979. She is also a co-founder and director, together with

Giancarlo Politi Giancarlo Politi (born 1937 in Trevi, Italy) is an art critic and publisher, mainly known for being the founder of ''Flash Art'' magazine. Magazine Politi was born in Trevi, in Umbria. He had a brief spell as an artist and poet before turning to ...

, of the

Prague Biennale The Prague Biennale is an international art exhibition in Prague, Czech Republic, held in alternate (odd-numbered) years. It was founded in 2003 by Helena Kontova and Giancarlo Politi. It is supported by the Czech Minister of Culture and the City ...

. Kontova obtained a BA in

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and History from the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

in Prague and went on to study Czech and Italian

futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

at the

Milan University The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

in 1977. She participated in numerous

symposia ''Symposia'' is a genus of South American araneomorph spiders in the family Cybaeidae, and was first described by Eugène Simon in 1898. Species it contains six species in Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic o ...

and has conducted interviews with artists such as Jeff Koons, Maurizio Cattelan, Marina Abramović,

Vanessa Beecroft Vanessa Beecroft (born April 25, 1969) is an Italian-born American contemporary performance artist; she also works with photography, video art, sculpture, and painting. Many of her works have made use of professional models, sometimes in large nu ...

, Shirin Neshat,

Francesco Vezzoli Francesco Vezzoli (born 1971) is an Italian artist and filmmaker. Work Vezzoli studied at the Central Saint Martins School of Art in London from 1992 to 1995. In his early works from 1994 to 1996, he reenvisioned twentieth-century masterpieces by ...

, Gian Marco Montesano and Michelangelo Pistoletto. In 2004 she founded a private art foundation in Prague, Nadace Prague Biennale. Every two years she directs the Prague Biennale, a Biennal of emerging artists that concentrates each time on different social and geographical aspects.

Bibliography

*''Flash Art: Two Decades of History'', Politi Editore, Milan, 1990. *''Mimmo Paladino: Kresby, Oleje, Sochy'', Obrezzi & Dones, Milan, 1991. *''Mark Kostabi: New Paintings'', In Arco, Turin, 1991. *''Aperto 93: Emergency'', Politi Editore, Milan, 1993. *''Audience 0.01: International Video'', Politi Editore, Milan, 1994. *''Fuori Uso: The Bridges'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2000. *''Tirana Biennale 1: Escape'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2001. *''Prague Biennale 1: Peripheries become the Center'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2003. *''Prague Biennale 2: Expanded Painting'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2005. *''Prague Biennale 3: Glocal and Outsiders: Connecting Cultures in Central Europe'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2007 *''Prague Biennale 4'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2009. *''Prague Biennale 5: New Location, New Face'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2011. *''Prague Biennale 6'', Politi Editore, Milan, 2013.

Curatorial activities

*1993: ''Aperto '93'', 45th Venice Biennal
LINK
*1994: ''Audience 0.01'', Trevi Flash Art Museum, Italy

*1995: ''Aperto 95'', Trevi Flash Art Museum, Italy *1996: ''Panorama Italiano 1: Arte e Critica Oggi'', Trevi Flash Art Museum, Italy *2000: ''Fuori Uso: The Bridges'', Pescara, Italy. *2001: ''Tirana Biennale 1'', National Gallery, Tirana *2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013: ''Prague Biennale''

Personal life

She is married to art critic and publisher

References

External links

Flash Art website

Prague Biennale website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kontova, Helena 1955 births Living people Czech art critics Czech editors Czech women curators Czech women editors Czech emigrants to Italy Italian art critics Italian art curators Italian magazine editors Italian women curators Italian women editors Italian women art critics Czech magazine editors Women magazine editors Curators from Milan Writers from Prague Charles University alumni