17. 5. – 15. 9. 2024
This year’s central exhibition of the Smetana Creative Litomyšl festival features selected works of art by Čestmír Suška exhibited outside in the public spaces of the town. The academician, sculptor, member of the art group Tvrdohlaví/The Hard-headed, director, curator, and founder of the Bubec art studio, is already relatively well known to the Czech public, thanks mainly to his characteristically designed monumental metal artwork carried out over the last two decades.
Čestmír Suška appeared on the Czech fine art scene during the late 1970s to early 1980s. After studying at the AVU in Prague, he and his peers organized unofficial underground-inspired art exhibitions (Konfrontace – Confrontations, Malostranské dvorky – Courtyards in the Lesser-Quarter), which threw the hitherto stagnant, state-supported art production into disarray. In 1981, together with film documentarian Michal Baumbruck and composer Pavel Richter, Suška founded the Carousel Art Theatre, which combined visual elements with acting and scenic music. One of the performances created as part of the theatre’s activities later became an element of the experimental debut of director Tomáš Vorl’s Pražská 5/Prague 5.
Čestmír Suška’s artistic work from this period is characterized by the existential tone of his spatial installations (Kosti/Bones, 1981; Objekt-prostor-čas/Object-Space-Time, 1983; Ztráty a nálezy/Losses and Discoveries, 1983), which were later followed by grotesque archetypal themes, characteristic of Czech Postmodernism (Rytíř, šťastný princ/Knight, Happy Prince 1986; Práce na procházce/Work during a Walk, 1990). In the1990’s, the artist’s style changed. He created geometrized wooden sculptures, in which, for the first time, he defined his own interpretation of sculpture as forms containing a compact (closed) but also an open shape. At the Rovnováha/Balance exhibition, the aforementioned stage of the artist’s work is represented by the bronze work Vertikální kukla/Vertical Cocoon from 2002 located in the crypt of the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross.
Whilst between 1990 and 2005 Čestmír Suška created mostly wooden sculptures, from 2005, when he undertook work experience in Vermont USA, he started working mainly with metal. He carved simple patterns – typical for tablecloths, curtains, paint rollers or lace – into used metal containers (spheres, hemispheres, cisterns). After returning to the Czech Republic, he worked with discarded cisterns from the Smíchov brewery similarly. In the pure geometric shapes of these sculptures, the artist further expanded his concept of interaction between the inner and outer space of the sculpture, but also used spatial decor. He retained the natural patina of this new material (rust, paint residues) thus revealing its previous function. At the same time, he also multiplied the recycling principle. Suška created new, autonomous works of art from cut-out sections by welding or printing them to resemble graphic sheets. At the exhibition in the exterior public spaces of Litomyšl, this sculptural concept is illustrated by Koule na hladině/Sphere on the Water (River Loučná) and the fragile Čočka s krajkou/Lace Lens situated on a wooden bridge over the river near Smetana House.
The principle of metal perforation can also be found in various other art pieces exhibited in Litomyšl during recent years. . However, interrupting the basic shape (sphere, pipe) has not been achieved by cutting out material, but through the plastic intersection of two body masses – Čočka s trojúhelníkem/Lens with a Triangle – (Bernardka); Koule s rourami/Spheres with Pipes, Roura s dírami/Tubes with Holes – (Smetana Square); Čočka s otvorem/Lens with an Aperture – (Smetana Bridge). Similar to the die-cut patterns, Suška’s work here also features parts taken from used material, which he sometimes presents together with a basic shape as seen in Kazatelna/Pulpit on the bank of the River Loučná near the children’s playground (Vodní valy Street).
Two of Sušek’s monumental works were installed into the very centre of the festival area in Litomyšl – the forecourt of the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross, and behind the apse of the nearby Church of the Ascension of the Holy Cross. The first artwork, a light sculpture called Kalich/Chalice, which can be made to resonate, and the second – a nine-metre elliptical structure made of steel discs, Bochník/Loaf. Both sculptures are examples of the artist’s voluminous sculptures including lookout towers and gazebos which, in design, incline towards architecture. Their appeal lies in the intermingling of aesthetic and functional elements. On closer inspection, the visitor will discover that Chalice was originally a form for creating the second of the sculptures. Together they are ready for Holy Communion.
Date and place of the opening:
7 June 2024 at 17.00, in front of the Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross, Jiráskova Street, Litomyšl
Location of sculptures by Čestmir Suška in Litomyšl:
The area in front of the Church of the Finding of St. Cross, the crypt of the Church of the Finding of St. Cross, the area behind the Church of the Elevation of St. Cross, Smetana Square, Bernardka, Vodni valy, Loučná River at Smetana’s bridge, Smetana’s bridge.
Guided tours of the exhibition:
20. v 17:30; 22. 8. 17:30
Meet at the entrance to the Church of the Finding of St. Cross, Jiráskova street.
Curators of the exhibition:
Martina Zuzaňáková, Jana Kosková
Address:
Litomyšl, exterior of the city
