Zbyněk Sekal
Untitled
Artist
Zbyněk Sekal
(1923, Praha - 1998, Wien), Czech
Original Title
Untitled
Date1980-1998
Mediumwood, metal
Dimensions36,7 × 26 × 23,5 cm
Classificationssculpture
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionZbyněk Sekal was a prominent Czech sculptor who emigrated to Vienna, where he spent the later part of his life. Although his art draws on the traditions of surrealism, art informel, and so-called total realism, he remained a solitary artist throughout his entire life, placing importance on an integration of order and magic. A defining experience of Sekal’s youth was his imprisonment in the Terezín and Mauthausen concentration camps, which became heavily manifest in his life-long feelings of difference, uprootedness, and inability to socially integrate. His individualistic work also stems from his highly intellectual orientation, combining influences of existentialist literature (e.g.,Franz Kafka) and philosophy (e.g., Martin Heidegger). Sekal’s work is divided into extensive series and is defined by a non-linear evolution and a need for self-reflection, with Sekal understanding his artworks as a part of himself. The human figure and the feeling of physical presence are thus contained, at a metaphysical level, even in his non-figurative work. Traces of physical presence are manifest in his emphasis on craftsmanship, materiality, and the incorporation of used utility items which retain certain imaginative qualities without detracting from the focus on constructing an abstract order. The idea of recycling existing items creates space for tensions between beauty and rawness as well as imbuing materially fragile and minute forms with an expressive monumentality. In the early phases of his career, Sekal produced sculptures of quail heads, which can be interpreted as a direct imprint of his experiences in concentration camps. From 1957 to 1964, he focused on the existential themes of the dwelling and the den, precarious structures which can be read as a certain form of personal, existential self-interpretation. Later, Sekal’s practice shifted toward collage and assemblage. In the 1960s, he primarily created tangles of wires which formed dense meshy structures expressing the concept of chaos, as well as composed reliefs, known as suspended assemblages, made of found discarded materials. Placing great importance on the creative process itself, from the 1970s onward—following his emigration to Vienna—Sekal reworked some of his older pieces created in Prague. In the 1980s, he produced wooden cases which represent one of the pinnacles of his oeuvre. Toward the end of his artistic career, he was strongly influenced by a short stay in Japan in 1989, where he was greatly inspired by the substantial cultural difference and philosophical context of Zen Buddhism. The most salient works resulting from this journey are minute collages made of ephemeral materials.
This small wooden structure is representative of Sekal’s wooden cases produced in the 1980s, which art historian Wermer Hofmann celebrated in his text for the catalogue of a 1992 exhibition in Klagenfurt. Connections can be drawn to Sekal’s preceding copper cases as well as his earlier themes of dwellings and precarious structures. The central motif of these works is the enclosure of an empty, void center in a spatial construction. The case carries and simultaneously protects the core, and it is only through the fusion of the two that a unity is born. Most of these structures are meant to be viewed frontally as well as from different angles which reveal various spatial intersections and openings. The piece thematizes the metaphorical center of the labyrinth which provides refuge. The core contains fractions of reality—items found by Sekal, gifts from friends, and occasionally older pieces—which become recontextualized as mysterious fragments of human existence.
Zbyněk Sekal (1923, Prague – 1998, Vienna) was part of the so-called Spořilov Surrealists, centred around Karel Teige, already at the onset of World War II. After returning home from the Terezín and Mauthausen concentration camps in 1945, he re-established contact with the group. From 1945 to 1950, Sekal studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague, but left without completing his degree. He was heavily influenced by a month-long study trip to Paris in 1947, which was centered around the international exhibition of surrealism in the Maeght Gallery (reprised in Prague later that year) as well as visiting ethnographic collections. Between 1957 and 1964, he exhibited with the art group Máj, although his relations with the group were not harmonious. During the 1960s, Sekal had several solo exhibitions of his current work (Charles Square Gallery, Prague, 1961; Václav Špála Gallery, Prague, 1965; House of the Lords of Kunštát, Brno, 1965; Václav Špála Gallery, Praha, 1969). He also partook in the legendary exhibition D at the Nová Síň gallery in Prague in 1964, which primarily focused on contemporary tendencies in art informel. In 1966, Sekal’s work was included in the prestigious West Berlin exhibition Tschechoslowakische Kunst der Gegenwart. He also worked on designing the Czechoslovak pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. In 1969, following much consideration, he decided to emigrate, starting a new life in Vienna. He had already previously been in contact with the Austrian scene, and although he remained a solitary artist his work was shown in several solo exhibitions at prominent institutions (Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, 1977; Neue Galerie, Graz, 1977; Kunstmuseum Bochum, 1977; Rupertinum, Salzburg, 1991; Belvedere Museum, Vienna, 2020); Sekal’s work was also included in numerous group exhibitions in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Japan. In 1984, he was awarded the City of Vienna Prize. In 1997, shortly before his death, the Prague City Gallery held an extensive retrospective exhibition of his work. His most recent retrospective took place at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna in 2020. Sekal’s work is currently held in institutions such as the Kunstmuseum Bochum, the Rupertinum Salzburg, the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, and the National Gallery Prague.
This small wooden structure is representative of Sekal’s wooden cases produced in the 1980s, which art historian Wermer Hofmann celebrated in his text for the catalogue of a 1992 exhibition in Klagenfurt. Connections can be drawn to Sekal’s preceding copper cases as well as his earlier themes of dwellings and precarious structures. The central motif of these works is the enclosure of an empty, void center in a spatial construction. The case carries and simultaneously protects the core, and it is only through the fusion of the two that a unity is born. Most of these structures are meant to be viewed frontally as well as from different angles which reveal various spatial intersections and openings. The piece thematizes the metaphorical center of the labyrinth which provides refuge. The core contains fractions of reality—items found by Sekal, gifts from friends, and occasionally older pieces—which become recontextualized as mysterious fragments of human existence.
Zbyněk Sekal (1923, Prague – 1998, Vienna) was part of the so-called Spořilov Surrealists, centred around Karel Teige, already at the onset of World War II. After returning home from the Terezín and Mauthausen concentration camps in 1945, he re-established contact with the group. From 1945 to 1950, Sekal studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague, but left without completing his degree. He was heavily influenced by a month-long study trip to Paris in 1947, which was centered around the international exhibition of surrealism in the Maeght Gallery (reprised in Prague later that year) as well as visiting ethnographic collections. Between 1957 and 1964, he exhibited with the art group Máj, although his relations with the group were not harmonious. During the 1960s, Sekal had several solo exhibitions of his current work (Charles Square Gallery, Prague, 1961; Václav Špála Gallery, Prague, 1965; House of the Lords of Kunštát, Brno, 1965; Václav Špála Gallery, Praha, 1969). He also partook in the legendary exhibition D at the Nová Síň gallery in Prague in 1964, which primarily focused on contemporary tendencies in art informel. In 1966, Sekal’s work was included in the prestigious West Berlin exhibition Tschechoslowakische Kunst der Gegenwart. He also worked on designing the Czechoslovak pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. In 1969, following much consideration, he decided to emigrate, starting a new life in Vienna. He had already previously been in contact with the Austrian scene, and although he remained a solitary artist his work was shown in several solo exhibitions at prominent institutions (Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, 1977; Neue Galerie, Graz, 1977; Kunstmuseum Bochum, 1977; Rupertinum, Salzburg, 1991; Belvedere Museum, Vienna, 2020); Sekal’s work was also included in numerous group exhibitions in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Japan. In 1984, he was awarded the City of Vienna Prize. In 1997, shortly before his death, the Prague City Gallery held an extensive retrospective exhibition of his work. His most recent retrospective took place at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna in 2020. Sekal’s work is currently held in institutions such as the Kunstmuseum Bochum, the Rupertinum Salzburg, the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, and the National Gallery Prague.
