Czech glass art doesn’t just sparkle. It speaks – with humour, sensuous allure, and pure whimsy.
A “FLYING” yin-yang symbol of the Circle of Life; two Twin Towers “skyscraper” sentinels standing together, a convex double facade with curtains of “bead rain” and a Stealth fighter-like contraption – all in glass.
Meanings can be slippery with the gorgeous works of art in the Contemporary Czech Glass show at Wei-Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur – the first major studio glass exhibition in KL since the 1988 Contemporary British Glass.
Dangerous by J. Marek
Although the shapes, truncated or abbreviated, do tell a story, interpretations get lost in the vitreous aesthetics of unimaginable colours, natural and artificial light, delicate and chunky forms, and the sheer ingenuity of the execution.
On show are 12 cast glass pieces by seven selected Czech artists from London’s renowned Studio Glass Gallery. The artists are Jaroslav Matous (born 1941), Ales Vasicek (1947), Jan Exnar (1951), Ivana Houserova (1957), Anna Matouskova (1963), Josef Marek (1963) and Jiri Sin (1981).
They come from a glassmaking tradition dating back 700 years with a hegemony in studio glass post-WWII. All have earned their stripes from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (VSUP) in Prague, often after a stint at Zelezny Brod.
The VSUP alumni and their study periods are: Matous (1961-67); Vasicek (1966-72); Exnar (1970-76), Matouskova (1984-90) and Marek (1990-96). Only Marek and Jiri Sin missed the personal tutelage of the great master Stanislav Libensky (1921-2002), who headed its glass atelier from 1963 until 1987.
The 12 works are abstract conceptual mantelpieces as well as architectural sculptures, moulded with an organic sensuous allure or geometric cuts, or both – serene, sedate, imposing, joyous, provocative, even whimsical and humorous. They are adornments with gimmicky gestures rather than “functional” items like decanters, bowls or vases.
In the Rain by Jaroslav Matous
Matous’ double convex work, which opens in the centre with a delicate steel wire meshing (fired together with the glass) like a curtain strung with beads and pellets, signals the mixed media trend in the last decade of incorporating metal, stone and wood. This “Purple Rain” piece for KL has a sister version in green, which is in the collection of flamboyant singer-composer Elton John, who also collects works of Exnar and Vasicek.
Exnar makes gravity-defying arch-like works of smooth geometric cuts, sometimes with honeycombedsurface while Vasicek shapes thick curved forms with frosted studs.
Although stand-alones, the two 95cm-tall crystal and blue Skylines of Jiri Sin exude a feeling of awe and mystery, with one having a smooth exterior and the other, a bevelled rhythmic cut.
Skyscraper Blue by Jiri Sin
Marek’s Dangerous is furtive with its wing-like span. He shows whiffs of Japanese influence, having been a visiting professor at the Toyoma City Institute of Glass Art from 1997 to 2000.
Matouskova, from Czech glass’ “Angry Generation” (those trained at VSUP in the late 80s and early 90s) is given to gear-like edges although her KL piece looks like an oval hull. Matouskova has trained under three great masters, namely Libensky, Janslav Svaboda and Vladimir Kopecky, her father.
So why are the Czechs, for all their long tradition, still so dominant and unassailable in the art of glassmaking?
Zafar Iqbal, the Studio Glass gallery director who was in Kuala Lumpur to set up the works, has the answers.
“Not everyone has that creative impulse, what more when supported by the government during the Socialist period (especially after the February 1948 communist putsch), for hard currency. It’s very skills based. They have a community of artists supporting one another with materials, medium, casting technology and know-how.
“That is why Czech glass is also known as the Art of Oppression. It gave them an unfair advantage, although now the artists are left to fend on their own,” says Zafar.
The Czech Republic has the infrastructure of schools, factories and materials and the network of support. Besides the VSUP, they have schools in Zelezny Brod and Kamenicky Senor (glassmaking, 1856, the oldest in Europe), and factories with specialised machinery in places like Novi Bor and Teplica.
“To execute a small piece of art may take only a month, but it comes with 20 to 25 years of training,” he adds.
“The style depends on the generation, with 90s graduates such as Shin and Marek showing wider influences from the West and East, like Japan. They travel, see and visit more (after the Velvet Revolution in late 1989). Their works are lighter in space, with a contemporary feel and form. Figuratives are almost coming into their works.
“The earlier age-groups from the Libensky period who are noted for their chunky works have established their styles
“Czech works are monumental. There is a bigger spectrum of glass available such as lead crystal and soda glass, besides the quality and multitude of colours available nowhere else.”
Zafar adds that the glass art record is held by a Libensky work which sold for US$410,000 (RM1,435,000) in Sotheby’s New York in the summer of 2007.
‘Contemporary Czech Glass’ is on show at Wei-Ling Gallery, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, KL, until June 2. For details call 03-22601106. Closed on Sundays and public holidays