Over the last years, the Czech artist Eva Kot’átková has created a comprehensive body of works that have won international acclaim and have been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Designed as an artist’s book, this catalog is already our third publication about Eva Kot’átková.

With her seemingly outlandish sculptures, installations, performances, drawings, and collages, the artist questions social conventions and power relations. One of her central motifs is the octopus, which can move each of its tentacles independently – i.e., in a nonhierarchical way. For Kot’átková, the octopus is an essential symbol: What can we human beings learn about this “lack” of hierarchy? Her answer is a call for disobedience, for a revolt against different forms of oppression, and for better mutual understanding. By challenging visitors to “use” her artworks, to explore them from the inside, and to breathe life into them, she crosses the boundary to dramatic art and allows spectators to interact on a physical and mental level.