Adriena Šimotová

Adriena Šimotová (1926–2014) was a Czech artist who explored human presence through vulnerable materials. Associated with the UB 12 group, she initially worked in painting and printmaking before giving textiles and then paper a central role. Pasting, crumpling, tearing, perforating and layering became acts of drawing. Surfaces retain traces of touch and suggest the body without necessarily describing it in full.

Faces and silhouettes often appear as fragments or impressions. Loss, memory and the transience of life run through this investigation, informed by personal experiences of bereavement. Šimotová notably developed cut drawings in layers of carbon paper. The fragility of the support does not lessen the image's force: it makes a presence perceptible that seems simultaneously to emerge and fade, directing attention towards the smallest material traces.