František Skála
In Harbor II
Artist
František Skála
(1956, Praha), Czech
Original Title
In Harbor II
Date2003
Mediumwood, rubber, metal and product of natura
Dimensions23 × 24 × 7 cm
Classificationssculpture
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionFrantišek Skála has worked in different fields of art, including sculpture, painting, and children’s illustrations. His life might best be described as "unconvetional." He has adopted many different kinds of media into his art while maintaining its basic nature. He often makes his curious objects from contrasting materials, combining natural ones with plastic or with objects of daily use. The resulting works show a singular character as well as a strange morphology which helps to find beauty in difference. His artistic approach has a tendency towards mystification and manipulation, humor, irony, objective distance, the transgression of social convention, a tendency towards theatricality and the narration of made-up stories and romantic mythologies.
At the Harbor II consists of a few small objects and shows a bizarre morphology and diversity of materials. It effectively evokes museum artefacts from various cultures of the Renaissance-era ‘cabinet of curiosities’ and is the result of Skála’s imagination and ability to mesmerise. He is not afraid to give an object a fabricated history or form of use, and thus helps to liberate the individual world of fantasy and imagination which have no place in a rational world.
František Skála (*1956, Praha) first studied woodcarving and then graduated from the University of Applied Arts in Prague with film and television graphics, but the work that brought him first honor was a children’s reader illustration in 1995. In 1992 he went for an artist residency in Headlands Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Skála also later represented the Czech Republic at exhibitions in various countries. Since 1974, he has been member of BKS (The End Is Nigh secret society) which supported his style of mystification and his tendency towards liberating the imagination. In 1986 he took part in the unofficial events called Confrontations where he met his peers Jiří David and Stanislav Diviš who became the most prominent representatives of the young generation. Between 1987–1991 they were members of the art group Tvrdohlaví which helped integrate Post-Modernism into the Czech context. Much like the poet Mácha, he regularly makes pilgrimages and trips around Europe during which he writes and draws in his journals, which is an activity that becomes ever more relevant in the era of climate crisis. His most famous pilgrimage was from Prague, across the Alps, to Venice. He represented the Czech Republic at the Venice Biennale in 1993 with the drawings and small objects he made along the way. He has been acclaimed on numerous occasions, for example for The Most Beautiful Book award of the Czech Ministry of Culture, first prize at the Arte Giovane di Europa from Italy’s Bolzano, or the Ministry of Culture Award for merit in the sphere of arts. He had solo exhibitions at the Galerie Rudolfinum (2004) or the National Gallery in Prague (2017).
At the Harbor II consists of a few small objects and shows a bizarre morphology and diversity of materials. It effectively evokes museum artefacts from various cultures of the Renaissance-era ‘cabinet of curiosities’ and is the result of Skála’s imagination and ability to mesmerise. He is not afraid to give an object a fabricated history or form of use, and thus helps to liberate the individual world of fantasy and imagination which have no place in a rational world.
František Skála (*1956, Praha) first studied woodcarving and then graduated from the University of Applied Arts in Prague with film and television graphics, but the work that brought him first honor was a children’s reader illustration in 1995. In 1992 he went for an artist residency in Headlands Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Skála also later represented the Czech Republic at exhibitions in various countries. Since 1974, he has been member of BKS (The End Is Nigh secret society) which supported his style of mystification and his tendency towards liberating the imagination. In 1986 he took part in the unofficial events called Confrontations where he met his peers Jiří David and Stanislav Diviš who became the most prominent representatives of the young generation. Between 1987–1991 they were members of the art group Tvrdohlaví which helped integrate Post-Modernism into the Czech context. Much like the poet Mácha, he regularly makes pilgrimages and trips around Europe during which he writes and draws in his journals, which is an activity that becomes ever more relevant in the era of climate crisis. His most famous pilgrimage was from Prague, across the Alps, to Venice. He represented the Czech Republic at the Venice Biennale in 1993 with the drawings and small objects he made along the way. He has been acclaimed on numerous occasions, for example for The Most Beautiful Book award of the Czech Ministry of Culture, first prize at the Arte Giovane di Europa from Italy’s Bolzano, or the Ministry of Culture Award for merit in the sphere of arts. He had solo exhibitions at the Galerie Rudolfinum (2004) or the National Gallery in Prague (2017).
