These collages were inspired by the 1926 Czech book Abeceda (Alphabet). In Abeceda, verses by the poet Vítězslav Nezval are juxtaposed with Constructivist photomontages by the avant-garde artist and typographer Karel Teige; the montages incorporate photographs of the dancer and choreographer Milada Mayerová forming the letters of the alphabet with her body. Olowska’s collages are loosely based on Teige’s human alphabet, but she has found the human letterforms in vintage and contemporary fashion magazines, television stills, and snapshots. Not unlike Paul Elliman’s gleaning of typography from the detritus of daily life (his Found Fount project is included in the exhibition) Olowska has found language in the everyday rest and motion of the human body.

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