Jiří Kolář was a Czech writer and poet who moved into art via visual poetry and the effects produced by the letters of a typewriter. His two-dimensional work of collages that sought to disturb and revisit more or less famous images received wide international recognition. His threedimensional work is less well known; working with a variety of large and small objects from daily life, he covered them with layers of entrelacs of ancient typefaces and elements of astronomical maps, transforming them into mysterious objects that were nevertheless still recognisable. The titles of his works, Planche à laver chantante, Sceptre du roi des boulangers are in themselves magical objects that bring to mind fairytales and dreams.
Born in 1914 in Bohemia, with close links to Czech dissidents, Jiří Kolář lived in exile in Paris from 1980 until he returned to Prague in 1999, where he died in 2002. Major retrospectives of his work have been organised, notably by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1978), at the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid (1995) and at the Kunstforum in Regensburg (2013). His first exhibition at Galerie Lelong dates from 1982, 35 years ago.
In the 1990s, the gallery hosted artists who represented major movements in contemporary art: Sean Scully, Günther Förg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Antonio Saura. The gallery also increased international recognition of the work of Ana Mendieta.
Galerie Lelong has a large publishing department which produces and distributes engravings, lithographs, digital prints and multiple objects, and collates these works in catalogues raisonnés.
It produces monumental sculptures to order for public spaces and private clients.
The gallery is present at the leading international contemporary art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Fiac Paris, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Arco Madrid, Art Brussels, Expo Chicago...).
The directors of the gallery are Jean Frémon, Daniel Lelong and Patrice Cotensin in Paris and Mary Sabbatino in New York.
