Jedlička paid homage to the daily lives of three Italian sisters working in their family restaurant with his 1999 film Le Cuoche. While a generation of grandmothers – Milena, Morena, and Mari – rule the kitchen, their daughters Giovanna and Nicoletta cater to the restaurant’s guests. A knowledge of the region and strict formal concept are what give this “portrait” its authenticity.
biography
Jan Jedlička was born in 1944 in Prague, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1962 to 1968. A year after the occupation, he emigrated to Switzerland where he ended up deviating from his usual direction of fantastic realism. He uses various techniques and mediums in his work – illustration, watercolor, photography, earth pigments, mezzotint, serigraphs, and film. His recurring cycles explore the landscape in terms of movement and time (southern Tuscany, Ireland, Wales, Prague and the surrounding area), but are able to capture – sharply and occasionally with a malicious joke – the shades of human nature and community.
