Pyramid
aquamarine and honey glass, moulded in a form, cut and polished, signed Marian Karel, made in 2001, J. Novotný’s artistic glassworks, Železný Brod, 45 x 66 x 12 cm

The work is from the author’s studio

The author studied with prof. Libenský at the VŠUP in Prague, graduating in 1972. Together with his peers Aleš Vašíček, Yan Zoritchak and Oldřich Plíva, he represented new cut “prismatic” sculptures. The authors wanted to use the optical qualities of cut glass, most often crystal. They especially followed Stanislav Libenský and Václav Cigler’s work. In the 1980s, he became known for his large installations out of panes of glass, his peak was at EXPO 92 in Seville. Since 1992, he has led the art and architecture studio at VŠUP in Prague. In 1995, he became a professor and director of the Department of Fine Arts there. Since 2009, he has headed up the Department of Design at the CVUT. The author’s most famous piece is the glass tower in Museum Kampa in Prague’s Lesser Side.

In the 1980s, the author’s work veered toward conceptualism. He designs illusive, geometric bodies that appear to be whole objects from certain perspectives, but in reality are flat. The depth dimension was only created by the thickness of the pane of glass. The work on offer, Pyramid, works with a similar principle - it is composed of two aquamarine and honey colored objects shaped like pyramids. Through an optical play of shadows, a third pyramid is created in the middle, which changes depending on the point of view. The author originally created the Pyramid work in 1989 and it is found in the collection of the Museum of Glass in Corning. The item on offer is a miniature artist’s replica from 2001.

Quotation:
“...The strongest aspect of his contribution is the pure thought of bringing a basic shape, which, together with its inner space, creates a higher unit...” Stanislav Libenský