Eva Koťátková's Blankets, Monsters, Anna and the World for Hatton Gallery

The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University has recently acquired Blankets, Monsters, Anna and the World by Eva Koťátková through the CAS Fine Art Acquisition Scheme.

Eva Koťátková creates work that exists and acts at the intersection of fantasy and reality. Koťátková’s most recognised works are her large-scale installations that use sculpture, collage, drawings, text, sound and scenography. She hopes to provoke an emotion within the audience, connecting us with others beyond categorical subdivisions and hierarchies. Her practise often refers to surrealist and psychoanalytic theory. 

Blankets, Monsters, Anna and the World (2022) is a series of 6 collages that explores how we can communicate the realities of the world to a child, and in turn what we can learn from their viewpoint. The ‘Anna’ from the title refers to Koťátková’s eldest daughter, who inspired and helped develop the series. Each element of the title has a story behind it. Blankets have many uses for Anna; curtains, partitions, as refuge from danger or objects of comfort. Monsters feature in Anna’s everyday life, which means they must be addressed. Meanwhile, learning to understand the World is difficult. Like most children, Anna is full of ‘what-if’ questions and like most parents, Koťátková is faced with the difficult task of being unable to explain the injustices of the world to their child. She asks the viewer “How can we – from under the table – effectively prepare for the world outside, without losing our hiding and dreaming places in the future?” 

This acquisition will complement the legacy of collage and paper that is already present in the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University which features works by Kurt Schwitters, Linder, Thomas Bewick, Thomas Hair and William Henry Charlton. Blankets, Monsters, Anna and the World is created by a contemporary woman artist and adds diversity to the collection through addressing the gender balance for future exhibitions.

Eva Koťátková (b. Prague, Czech Republic, 1982) lives and works where she was born. Solo exhibitions include How many giraffes are in the air we breathe? at Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham (2023); National Gallery, Prague; La Casa Encendida, Madrid; Meyer Riegger, Berlin; Bildmuset Umea, Sweden; Musuem of CAPC, France (all 2022); Kunsthalle Lab, Bratislava, Slovakia (2021); and Galerie OFF/FORMAT, Brno, Czech Republic (2020). Group exhibitions include documenta 15, Kassel, Germany; Callirrhoe, Athens (both 2022); Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA (2018).