5 March – 9 June, 2019

Fresh Colours / Svěží barvy

The Svěží barvy / Fresh Colours joint exhibition presents eleven glass designers, artists and design studios, whose work is characterised by a passion for colour as one of the essential means of expression that has been influencing not only the glassmaking or applied arts but also design for thousands of years, be it the colour as the basis of the glass matter with which the artist works, or the colour applied to the finished form by painting or other techniques.

Glassmaking technologies and methods, from the traditional ones originating in ancient times to contemporary high-tech methods based on science and research, allow for a variety of shapes and colours, and work with light, enabling the Svěží barvy / Fresh Colours joint exhibition to offer a wide range of art concepts and techniques. The exhibition has been conceived as intergenerational: in addition to renowned artists and designers, it also presents young graduates and students of glass design departments of Czech universities and academies.

This exhibition has become a unique meeting place for the works produced in glass factories, works created by ancient glass blowing techniques and its subsequent refining by classical techniques of grinding, engraving and painting, and works processed by state-of-the-art technologies. Despite the fact that most of the exhibiting authors are active within the realms of glass design, they have prepared a representative collection for this exhibition that goes beyond the boundaries of applied art, design and visual arts, showing the vitality and viability of Czech glassmaking.

The sophisticated architectural and graphic design have been considered the key features of the curatorial concept of the exhibition from the very beginning.

Exhibiting Authors and Studios: Jakub Berdych, BYSTRO DESIGN, Irena Czepcová, Ilona Dragoeva, Lukáš Jabůrek, František Jungvirt, Jitka Kamencová Skuhravá, LLEV, Petr Stacho, Marcela Šilhánová, David Valner

Exhibition Curator: Jaroslav Polanecký
Exhibition Design: LLEV Studio (Eva and Marcel Mochal)
Graphic Design: Tuan Vuong Trong

Jakub Berdych Sr.

Born on January 18th, 1953, in Prague.
Education: Educational Institute of Applied Arts Production; Štuko Cooperative, Prague.
Glass designer, lecturer at the Glass and Jewellery Studio – Department of Design, Faculty of Textile Engineering, Technical University of Liberec.

Jakub Berdych – Oven II

The sculpture of molten glass titled Oven II by the glassmaker, designer and educator is an excellent demonstration of an unpretentious approach to everyday banality, hiding unsuspected possibilities of the creative process.

BYSTRO DESIGN – Dagmar Pánková

Born on August 31st, 1971, in Česká Lípa.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov.
Teacher of glass painting at the Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov.

BYSTRO DESIGN – Leoš Smejkal

Born on April 15th, 1973, in Ústí nad Labem.
Education: Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Glass designer.

BYSTRO DESIGN – Touch of Silver

The vase titled the Touch of Silver is an exclusive example of craftsmanship combining glass blown into a mould with freely formed glass. Its overall elegance is highlighted by the combination of cultivated colour and silver.

Irena Czepcová

Born on January 27th, 1986, in Třinec.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Valašské Meziříčí; Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem.
Designer.

Irena Czepcová – Red Line Rectangle

This work of art by the young designer is a contribution to the never-ending search for shapes and colours through the joint use of traditional and contemporary glassmaking techniques and technologies – processed in a glass factory and melted in a mould.

Ilona Dragoeva

Born on February 2nd, 1996, in Oľshanka, the Ukraine.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov.
Student at Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (under MgA. Marcel Mochal).

Ilona Dragoeva – Beethoven

This sculpture from molten glass by a student from Ústí nad Labem meets all the requirements for a purely contemporary interpretation of the Classicist link in connection with the technologies of postmodern reality.

Lukáš Jabůrek

Born on March 15th, 1983, in Chomutov.
Education: Vocational College of Glass Design in Nový Bor (glass art design).
Designer and glass-making artist.

Lukáš Jabůrek – Diamond Pattern

This unique piece is a work typical of one of the most distinguished Czech designers of the present, who is also an excellent cutter of factory-processed glass.

František Jungvirt

Born on October 5th, 1996, in Písek.
Education: Business School, Secondary Vocational School and Vocational School in Třeboň.
Student at the Glass Studio, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (under Prof. Rony Plesl).

František Jungvirt – Merano Pop

This exhibit represents the combination of the most traditional heritage of Czech glassmaking guaranteed by the Moser trademark and the new impulses by the student of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, an outstanding glass painter, determined to push the technical and visual boundaries of the field.

Jitka Kamencová Skuhravá

Born on June 13th, 1976, in Česká Lípa.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov; Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem; Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
Designer.

Jitka Kamencová Skuhravá – Firefly

Through her hanging installation of cut sheet glass, the renowned lamp designer, respected artist and glass engraver added a unique value to the message of colours conveyed by the exhibition.

LLEV – Eva Mochalová

Born on April 16th, 1978, in Ostrava.
Education: Secondary School of Arts, Architecture and Design in Ostrava; Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague; University of Arts and Design in Halle, Germany; Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Designer.

LLEV – Marcel Mochal

Born on February 21st, 1978, in Turnov.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Železný Brod; Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague; Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland; School of Crafts and Design in Hämeenlinna, Finland.
Designer, head of the Glass Studio, Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem.

LLEV – Lampioon

The magic of colours is perfectly orchestrated by the LLEV Studio (Eva and Marcel Mochal) in their collection of vases blown into wood rotary moulds as a celebration of the glassmakers’ creativity and inventiveness.

Petr Stacho

Born on June 23rd, 1965, in Ústí nad Labem.
Education: Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
Glass designer, head of the Glass Grinding Department, Secondary School of Glass Design in Kamenický Šenov.

Petr Stacho – Tribute to Nature

Monumentality and expressive vividness are the distinctive features of this glassmaking pedagogue and one of the most outstanding creators of molten glass sculptures today, as witnessed by his Tribute to Nature.

Marcela Šilhánová

Born on July 27th, 1995, in Jablonec nad Nisou.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Železný Brod.
Student at Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (under MgA. Marcel Mochal).

Marcela Šilhánová – Absolute Average

This kinetic object by a student from a university glassmaking department in Ústí nad Labem offers a sophisticated artistic concept combining traditional materials and techniques – wood, and metallised and sandblasted factory-processed glass – in a purely contemporary concept.

David Valner

Born on 1 August 1st, 1990, in Nové Město na Moravě.
Education: Upper Secondary School of Glassmaking in Železný Brod; Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Faculty Of Multimedia Communications of Tomas Bata University in Zlín.
Designer.

David Valner – Moil

The designer and glassmaker, whose domain is factory-processed glass, presents a set of vases combining cultivated morphology, refined colour, and inconspicuous innovativeness.