My Big Week 1968

This is Jiri Balcar’s ‘My Big Week’, made in 1968, and it's a print, so we're seeing the result of a very physical, hands-on process. The bodies are arranged in tiers, like memories or days of the week stacked on top of each other, each one with its own texture. The top figure has a dress covered in a constellation of tiny dots. The second is roughly blocked in, like it's made of stone or clay. The third figure is all horizontal lines and the bottom figure reminds me of a crowded meadow. I'm drawn to the way the artist has used a limited palette to create a sense of depth and variation. Each layer seems to fade as it recedes. Balcar reminds me of other artists working in Eastern Europe at this time, who were making equally powerful and evocative work within very limited material conditions. The ambiguity is the point; it's a week anyone could recognize, but no one can claim to fully know.