Milan Knížák (1940) is one of the most important contemporary Czech and global intemedia artists. He moves freely between art media, science and philosophy. From the beginning of his activities he sees the arts as social phenomena. He is trying to awake the feelings which leads to the change of life credo to extricate from the mind stereotypes (of modernity, political totality, uniformity, virtual reality of public media contemporary „globalised“ society) and with all this to cultivate people. And the beginning of the 60ties (20th century) Milan Knížák tried to reflect the postmodern changes of the society. It was quite difficult in the communist Czechoslovakia.
Milan Knížák‘s art and civic activities influenced probably all art movements (action art, non-tradicional activities, arte povera, mail art, music minimalism, noise music, street art, etc.). He brought out serie of impulses which, in various „now fashionable“ mutations, are still appearing (book design, furniture, fashion, architecture, pop-music, d-jing, punk, etc.).
He exhibits since 1959. In the 60ties (last century) he put together small but important movement Aktual and intervened in the activities of international art group Fluxus. Arranged more than 110 one man shows and took part in hundreds of common exhibitions throughout the world. He has published more than 50 individual books and catalogues and released a number of music recordings. His works are registered in major collections, galleries, museums all over the world.
Milan Knížák has received numerous prestigious awards for his works. after 2000 his “Broken Music” was chosen by global musicologists as one of the thousand most important musical works of the 20th century. His work is mentioned in the 20th Century art book, (2001), published by the prestigious Phaidon Press (New York, London), as one of the five hundred most important works of the 20th century. In 2010 the President of the Republic, Václav Klaus, awarded him the Medal of Merit in the field of culture and art.
At 1990 as the first post-revolutionary rector had totally reformed the Academy of Fine Art in Prague, where he also founded and for 25 years led the Intermedia school. In the years of 1999-2011 he was appointed the director general of National Gallery in Prague (one of the eldest art museums ever) where he also acted as a curator and architect of permanent expositions and some of short term exhibitions. He is the specialist of historical marionette theatre and author of comprehensive Encyclopedia of visual part of the puppetry.
He permanently comments all political and civic events in the country. For all he has done is partly hated, partly loved. No one has a casual attitude to him.
