Czech Center New York Presents Site-Specific Installation by Chalupecky Award-Winning Sculptor Dominik Lang, On view September 11 through October 29, 2014

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Czech Center New York Presents Site-Specific Installation by Chalupecky Award-Winning Sculptor Dominik Lang

On view September 11 through October 29, 2014

Dominik Lang
Expanded Anxiety (2013) as seen at Secession, Vienna. Photo by Oliver Ottenschlager

A site-specific installation by award-winning sculptor Dominik Lang will be on view at the Czech Center New York September 11 through October 29, 2014.

“The tradition of Modernism, interrupted by World War II and the succeeding totalitarian regimes, continues to pose questions for young artists from Central and Eastern Europe. Dominik Lang chose to answer some of them by mining the work of his father, the late modernist sculptor Jiri Lang, while incorporating the work into his own installations. He also actively addresses the issue of void, especially the one hidden within the core of modernist sculpture, by transforming it into a monumental space-build. His most recent installations utilize basic geometric shapes enlarged into monumental structural elements, or cut from the existing walls, that both compliment and radically alter a given environment,” states curator Charlotta Kotik, who is coordinating the exhibition at the Czech Center New York.

Dominik Lang (born 1980) lives and works in Prague. His site-specific installations explore the unexpected meanings created by surprising arrangements of various elements and the influence of the newly created situations on our perception. Whether featuring smaller deconstructed objects or strong architectural elements that often utilize construction materials, Lang’s work presents a particular look at the given locale and tests the viewer’s attention to and orientation within the space. From the troves of historical Czech art, to the overflowing shelves of his late father’s studio–Lang repeatedly addresses the way in which histories are accessed, understood, and abstracted.

His recent installations include Expanded Anxiety (2013, Secession, Vienna), an expansion of Czech Cubist sculptor Otto Gutfreund’s (1889-1927) work Anxiety; Sleeping City (2011), a large-scale installation presented in the Czechoslovak Pavilion during the 54th Venice Biennale; and East-West (2013, Jindrich Chalupecky Award Finalists exhibition), presented in the central space of the National Gallery in Prague.

Lang graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 2008 and has studied at Cooper Union in New York and the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. He was the curator at the Jeleni Gallery at the Center for Contemporary Arts from 2007 to 2011 and is currently the co-director of the sculpture studio at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. In 2013, Lang was awarded the Jindrich Chalupecky Award for Young Artists, was named Artist of the Year in an annual survey conducted by Art+Antiques magazine, and represented the Czech Republic at the Venice Biennale.

The Jindrich Chalupecky Award was established by playwright Vaclav Havel, poet and artist Jiri Kolar, and artist Theodor Pistek and is named in honor of philosopher, art and literary critic Jindrich Chalupecky for his lifetime achievements and unwavering position in promoting freedom of thought and expression. It is awarded annually to young visual artists who are Czech citizens and less than 35 years of age.The award was first presented in 1990.

Charlotta Kotik, a native of Prague, has organized more than one hundred museum exhibitions. From 1992 to 2007, she was Curator and Chair of the Contemporary Art Department at the Brooklyn Museum. Ms. Kotik served as the United States commissioner for the Venice Biennale in 1993 where she presented works by Louise Bourgeois. Presently, she works as a writer, lecturer, independent curator, and teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Established in 1995, the Czech Center New York is a meeting place for Czech and local culture, a place where artists and professionals, Czech and non-Czech alike, can get to know each other and share their work. While the Center’s focus is on contemporary Czech artists, the organization is committed to the support of new international projects and is a welcoming place for all ideas that address current cultural or social issues.

Czech Center New York at the Bohemian National Hall (between 1st and 2nd Avenue) is located at 321 E 73rd Street, New York, NY 10021.  

For more information call (646) 422-3399 or visit www.czechcenter.com.

 

By subway: Take subway train 6 to 68th Street/Hunter College or 77th Street

 

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