Desatero (Decalogue) 1991

Josef Istler made this etching, called Desatero, in 1991. The title refers to the Ten Commandments, but Istler avoids direct religious imagery, instead giving us a constellation of geometric shapes and dreamlike figuration. Made in Czechoslovakia shortly after the Velvet Revolution, the image hints at a spiritual dimension for a society emerging from decades of Soviet-imposed atheism. The question then becomes how the image creates meaning through its visual codes. We can see the fragmented figures and geometric forms and the way they suggest the shattering of old structures. This print also seems to be grappling with a longing for transcendental values after a period of political oppression. To understand this work better, we can research Czech cultural history, political shifts in Eastern Europe, and the role of religion in shaping national identity. We might reflect on the meaning of art as something that is contingent on social and institutional context.