I fell in love with the work of Czech artist David Černý on January 15 2009, when his masterpiece, Entropa, was unveiled in Brussels. It is tradition for the country holding the EU presidency to exhibit a work of art, so I was very anxious to see what the Czech Republic would do. Entropa was anything but conventional. This giant sculpture depicts a literally disjointed European Union with each country represented by some form of stereotype or historical dig. Of course this created a huge uproar, but for those who are familiar with the work of David Černý this was really no surprise at all. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7827747.stm
As I followed the story of Entropa in the news prior to leaving to study abroad, I became excited to see more of David Černý’s work. I was happy to discover his work is all over the city.
One of my favorite sculptures of his is located in Prague 5 in front of the Ministry of Justice. In 1991, a soviet tank still stood in this location as a memorial to the war. Černý painted this historic tank hot pink. The memorial looked like the Barbie car I coveted in the second grade, but what makes the story even better is that, according to one of my professors, when the police asked him what he was doing Černý told them it was an art project for school. The officers ended up helping him paint the tank pink! Nonetheless,he was arrested shortly after because his art as considered vandalism. This stunt brought Černý into the spotlight. I love that a piece of the pink tank is still standing today.
The “tower babies” are another example of Černý’s genius. During the Soviet occupation of the Czech Republic, a television tower was built to supposedly block bbc radio and radio free Europe. The Czechs hated the modern structure, claiming it ruined the skyline and was a legacy of the Soviet occupation. In 2000 Černý added babies climbing up the tower as a temporary exhibit. Opinion about the tower changed drastically. The climbing babies gave the tower a surrealist look and Černý’s work was met with great applause. I personally love this sculpture because of its size, its symbolism and its turning something so hated into something so loved. Look at the babies and decide what you think they mean and why you think they were put there. My friends and I each have our own ideas. Whenever we walk by, we tend to argue over the nature of the babies. I used to think they represent that although the Czech nation is small it can achieve great heights. haha! But I knew this is too simple to be what Černý meant, so I dug a little deeper. My current belief is that the babies are ants and show what can happen when people follow along and do not stand up for themselves. They end up small and with a huge ugly tower built by an invading country. I’m still working on it, haha, but I think this sculpture is really cool because it makes me think.
The reason I have decided to blog about Černý is because I have been thinking about why the Czechs love him so much. In my opinion, it is because he is so Czech himself, especially in the sense of humor of his sculptures. The Czechs have not had an easy history; nevertheless, they have developed a thick skin and great sense of humor to deal with the hard times. Černý’s art isn’t meant to be nice. The goal is to evoke emotion, play with satire and bring attention to stereotypes. For instance, one of Černý’s most famous works is a statue of St. Wenchelas, the patron saint of Prague, riding an upside down horse. That is THE PATRON SAINT OF PRAGUE! Another one of his statures depicts two men urinating into a puddle the same shape of the Czech Republic. What other nation would tolerate such statues? Can you imagine a statue George Washington riding an upside down horse in D.C.? Can you imagine a sculpture of two men urinating into a puddle shaped
like America? I think not. Černý’s art epitomizes the Czech love for controversy, want freedom of expression, and emphasizes the Czech’s individual sense of humor. This brings me to another point-- how did the Czech President think Černý would come up with something traditional and non controversial for the Eu exhibit? Has he ever been to Prague and seen Černý's work? haha.
If your curious, check him out… his stuff is really worth a look.
