The Prague Project was an art project involving the

photorealist Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can ...

painters Anthony Brunelli,

Clive Head Clive Head (born 1965) is a painter from Britain. Biography Head was born in Maidstone, Kent, the son of a machine operator at Reed's Paper Mill in Aylesford. He was born to Swazi parents but developed vitiligo at a young age. Head had a preco ...

, Bertrand Meniel and Raphaella Spence, and the writer

Michael Paraskos Michael Paraskos, FHEA, FRSA (born 1969) is a novelist, lecturer and writer on art. He has written several non-fiction and fiction books and essays, and articles on art, literature, culture and politics for various publications, including '' Art ...

, held in Prague in 2003. It culminated in an exhibition at the Roberson Museum and Science Center, Binghamton, New York in 2004-2005, and an accompanying catalogue.

History

The Prague Project was organised by the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York, involving the artists Anthony Brunelli,

, Bertrand Meniel and Raphaella Spence. The project began with a commission given to Brunelli to paint Prague, but quickly grew into a more elaborate project involving the three other artists, all of whom were associated with the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery at that time. From this start the aim of the project became to send a group of

Photorealist Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can ...

painters from Europe and the United States to the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

capital

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 ...

and ask them each to produce two paintings based on their experience of the city. These were then to be exhibited in the United States.Gregory Saraceno (ed.), ''The Prague Project'' (Binghamton: Roberson Museum and Science Center, 2004) The artists travelled together to Prague, and stayed in the same accommodation, in order to promote a dialogue between them, and explore differing methods of photorealist painting. In this the participation of

is of significance as he has denied frequently he is a photorealist painter. At the request of Clive Head, the art critic

was included in the trip to Prague. However he was not subsequently selected to write the catalogue essay that accompanied the exhibition of the paintings produced, with that role being taken instead by Gregory Saraceno. The exclusion of Paraskos was possibly due to his known criticism of mainstream photorealist painting. Nonetheless the exhibition was described by one journalist as "showing the breadth and richness of photorealism." Also accompanying the artists was a film crew from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

invited by Anthony Brunelli to record the Prague visit.

Further Projects

Following the project further group projects involving photorealist painters have been organised, including ''The Zurich Project'' in 2007, which brought in the first generation photorealist painter

Tom Blackwell Thomas Leo Blackwell (1938 – April 8, 2020) was an American hyperrealist of the original first generation of Photorealists, represented by Louis K. Meisel Gallery. Blackwell is one of the Photorealists most associated with the style. He produ ...

, and the ''Monaco Project'', based around the

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...

, which involved the artists Roberto Bernardi, Tom Blackwell, Anthony Brunelli, Clive Head, Robert Gniewek, Ron Kleemann, Bertrand Meniel and Raphaella Spence. They were accompanied by the art critic Linda Chase. In 2011 the New York Project was shown, involving fifteen artists: Anthony Brunelli, Tom Blackwell, Paul Caranicas, Richard Estes, Robert Gniewek, Gus Heinze, Don Jacot, Charles Jarboe, Ron Kleemann, Bertrand Meniel, Robert Neffson, Matthew Pierog, Raphaella Spence, Bernardo Torrens and Doug Webb.Press Release
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Artists involved

Anthony Brunelli
*

Bertrand Meniel
*

Raphaella Spence Raphaella Beatrice Spence (born 1978) is a British photorealist and hyperrealist painter. Biography Spence was born in London, England in 1978. At the age of twelve, she moved to Rome, Italy, with her family, where she completed her studies ...

Writers involved

Gregory Saraceno

References

{{reflist

External links

- Press Release
Prague Project