A look at: Marie Tomanova

June 22, 2021
  • C24 Gallery is very pleased to announce that Marie Tomanova has joined our roster of represented artists. We first exhibited selections from her iconic collection, Young American as part of our 2020 exhibition, On the Inside: Portraiture Through Photography. These works, first viewed in her solo exhibition at The Czech Center New York in 2018, encompass a diverse body of young New Yorkers with a raw and penetrating honesty that reflects Tomanova’s energetic yet unassuming manner. The side of youth culture that she represents is a generation not bound by societal conventions. Instead, the young people in her images redefine notions of identity and belonging in the American social landscape, epitomizing a disconnection from mainstream cultural norms and the kind of creativity and originality that embody a new definition of individuality.
  • Marie Tomanova
    Marie Tomanova (photo by Ondrej Trhon)

  • Marie Tomanova was born and raised in Mikulov, a small border town in the Czech Republic. After completing a masters program in painting, she decided she needed a big change, and ultimately ended up discovering photography through the work of Francesca Woodman. In classes at New York City’s School of Visual Arts (SVA), she discovered the medium that would allow her to channel her creative spirit to the fullest.

     

    Tomanova’s point-and-shoot camera demands an up-close-and-personal style of photography, dovetailing nicely with her personal goal of building friendships when she first moved to NYC nine years ago, a motivation that continues to inspire her. Her candid photos, shot on film with no subsequent manipulation, are a natural expression of these relationships. The intimacy of her connection with her subjects is apparent in the tender, vulnerable moments she captures on film. Her 2019 book, Young American, which has sold out its entire printing, featured a glowing introduction by photographer Ryan McGinley, whose work has also had a profound influence on her.

  • Paulina Porizkova
    Paulina Porizkova (Photo by Marie Tomanova)
    Tomanova's work has also ignited excitement throughout the entertainment and fashion worlds. She has photographed editorial spreads for the Italian magazine, Lampoon, and fashion houses, Gucci and Guess. Her recent “nude” cover photo for Vogue Czechoslovakia of former supermodel Paulina Porizkova has garnered international attention.
  • This is a pivotal moment in Tomanova’s career. Her photo exhibition, It Was Once My Universe, will be on view from July 4th through August 9th at the French summer photography festival, Les Rencontres d'Arles. Curated by Sonia Voss as a part of the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2021, the exhibition will introduce a series she recently produced during her first return home to the Czech Republic after eight years living in the US. Also in July and August, Tomanova will be participating in an annual residency program in her hometown of Mikulov, called Mikulov Art Symposium Dílna. This year's 28th edition will be from July 10th - August 7th.
  • New York, New York

    Tomanova’s second book on youth culture in New York City with art historian Thomas Beachdel, New York New York (Hatje Cantz), with a foreword by the iconic Kim Gordon, has just been published and has already been named one of the best new photography books to buy this summer. A book launch in Prague at the Fotograf Gallery is scheduled for August 26th at 6pm, and the NYC launch will take place at Dashwood Books on September 29th.

     

    This summer has been a whirlwind of international activity for Marie. Her exhibition, It Was Once My Universe, curated by Sonia Voss, was on view at the French summer photography festival, les Rencontres d'Arles. Introducing a series of images Marie shot during her first return home to the Czech Republic after eight years in exile, the exhibition was part of the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2021, and was selected to travel to the Jimei International Photo Festival in China this fall. It was covered in this feature on French/German ARTE TV.

  • Image from It Was Once My Universe at les Rencontres d'Arles (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Image from World Between Us at Chateau Mikulov (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Marie Tomanova, Image from It Was Once My Universe at les Rencontres d'Arles

  • Tomanova also debuted World Between Us, a site-specific installation at the Chateau Mikulov, created during a month-long residency for the 2021 Mikulov Symposium Dílna, in her hometown in the Czech Republic. Featuring 38 photographs made during July 2021 in and around her childhood home, the new body of work focuses on her relationship with her mother and was created out of a unique editorial dialogue between them. Marie describes it as, “...a very special and personal project.” World Between Us will be on view through October 31st.
     
    For more information about It Was Once My Universe and World Between Us, see this extensive interview recently published in aktualne.cz.