Zdeněk Lhotský and Studio Pelechov

Glass Objects

29.5.2008 - 14.9.2008

19 - 21 Husova St., Prague 1 – Old Town

Zdeněk Lhotský, a member of the legendary Tvrdohlaví (Stubborn Ones) group, creates unique glass sculpture reliefs, objects and items of applied art that, despite their practical nature, have a strikingly festive character. He is also the person who, during a period when the glory of Czech glass was fading, took charge of the endangered artistic tradition of Czech glass production; in Pelechov near Železný Brod, where glass production has a long tradition, he founded his own glass studio that is devoted to the highly demanding discipline of cast glass.

This combination of words in itself, ‘cast glass’, highlights the fact that in the work of Zdeněk Lhotský and all the artists working at the Pelechov Studio it is primarily a matter of sculpture work. The sculpture, the object, is built up, modelled and is therefore a sculpture designed to be cast. It is in fact cast similar to how bronze is cast, and like bronze it is also polished and can also be patinated.

Thanks to Zdeněk Lhotský’s name, the prestige of his own art, and thanks also to the professional glassmaking quality of the studio, Pelechov has become the focus for a large group of artistic figures from the Czech Republic and other countries around the world, regardless of whether glass is their main artistic medium or not.

As well as the work of Zdeněk Lhotský, the exhibition on show at the Czech Museum of Fine Arts also features pieces by O. Plíva, J. Plieštik, J. Róna, Č. Suška, A. Matějková, P. Bremers, R. H. Viga, A. Matoušková, L. Teren, S. Milkov, M. Gabriel, S. Libenský and J. Brychtová, A. Matoušková-Kopecká, B. Škorpilová and Studio Olgoj Chorchoj that have been produced at the Pelechov studio over the last few years.

It is clear that Zdeněk Lhotský’s work and his studio are now in the process of writing a fresh chapter in Czech sculpture, one placing emphasis on the unique sculptural qualities of this specific material