Katedrála milencu/The Lovers' Cathedral 1968

This is Jaroslav Kaiser's screenprint, The Lovers' Cathedral, created sometime in the twentieth century, printed in black ink and color. The palette of black, white and olive green conveys a sense of solemnity, like a procession, or a memory. I see a building or body made of corrugated cardboard, but on closer inspection, it’s an image of many people embracing, repeated again and again. The lovers are stacked one on top of another, block-like. In the middle of the screenprint, the artist has placed a green square with an image of what appears to be a fingerprint. It is like something is being investigated, classified, or understood. The mark is as singular and unique as the expression of love. I imagine Kaiser meticulously cutting the print stencil. I get a sense of him thinking about intimacy, memory, and the rituals of modern life. Artists converse with one another. Kaiser seems to me to be in dialogue with the work of the Pop artist Andy Warhol and the Czech Surrealist, Toyen. He is part of this great, unfolding conversation.