BIMBA - Adventures of Bohumil Konečný

 Till January 11th, 2009 there was a chance to visit an exhibition of Bohumil Konečný (1918, Plzeň – 1990, Kožlany u Plzně), illustrator of adventure literature, nicknamed ”Bimba“. Bohumil Konečný, active in the second half of the 20th century,  is an artist whose body of work has not received its well deserved acclaim. Illustrator Kája Saudek said about him: ”In the year 1937 and 1938 Konečný could do things that nowadays only few artists in the USA can accomplish. He was absolutely unique. This Bohumil Konečný, forgotten now and unappreciated during his life, was a genius the like of which we do not see very often. All I know I learned from him.“ At times he is confused with his friend Zdeněk Burian. The exibition will present Konečný's illustrations of books by Jaroslav Foglar and Otakar Batlička; commercial promotional work for various companies (Baťa, Prazdroj, Petrof, Jablonex and Sigma Pumpy); illustrations for Vpřed (Ahead) magazine; first Czech pin-up girls posters but also his posters in the style of socialist realism and his own creative pursuits. This exhibition has drawn on a similar successful exhibition held in  Pilsen and was organized by the Municipal House and Středoškolský klub ASK ČR při gymnáziu Plzeň. More information can be found at www.bimba.cz and www.obecnidum.cz.