vvp.avu.cz/idatum/search/autori-42

Jiří Černický’s work is full of expressive transformations, extreme gestures and also particular humour. Each work by this artist hides a strong story both in the content as well as at the level of seeking adequate expressive resources. Should we wish, nonetheless, to formulate a certain common denominator, then it is essential to mention first and foremost his incessant ability to express an almost childlike wonder and, at the same time, a willingness for open communication, often exaggerated to the point of conflict. Indeed, it is these two components expressing strategy that allow Černický, as if part of perfunctory surfing trip, to expose the dominant waves on the surface of contemporary society.

A certain ambivalence of creative principles otherwise appeared in Jiří Černický’s first fundamental work, Slzy pro Etiopii / Tears for Ethiopia (1993-94). At that time the artist collected from rubbish containers located at the Emil Filla Gallery in Ústí nad Labem the tears of local residents, who after a month of toilsome pilgrimage handed over to the abbot of the monastery in the Ethiopian town of Lalibela. A limited pathos and creative aloofness crossed paths with personal engagement and the artist’s intense physical participation in this project.

Jiří Černický used a similarly ambiguous approach in one of his own formally most-dynamic works, i.e. in the multimedia installation, SONY Garden, dating from 2002. As part of this work the artist engaged in a communication process with representatives of multinational companies and obtained their material support. He later primitively and doggedly destroyed this sponsorship in the form of dozens of various hi-tech electronic devices (monitors, VCRs, printers) and from the materials obtained he constructed a sort of minimalist Zen garden. The global character of the Japanese economy was thus confronted with the traditions of local society and its culture. The impersonal and perfect aesthetic of industrial mass production was transformed into the shape of a post-modern visual haiku.

This relativising approach is not however typical only for Černický’s spectacular and conceptually-limited installations. Rather it appears in his seemingly light-weight and aestheticising painted projects. For example, we can recall without a doubt the bravado-like image series, Bin Ladinova lampa / Bin Laden’s Lamp dating from 1999. In this work the artist combines the principles of colour and shape ornamentalism with specific social themes. The shining and almost hallucinogenic surfaces of these images are complemented by an array of figurative details symbolising the differences in mutual relations between Euro-American and Arab society and culture. The naive and idealised images carried with us from childhood on the almost fairy-tale-like Islamic world of the Middle East are purposely shot down through kitschy pseudo-portraits of warriors from various religious terrorist groups and movements.

Studies :
1993 – 97 Academy of fine Arts in Prague
1990 – 93 Academy of Applied Arts in Prague.
1987 – 90 Pedagogical Faculty in Ústí nad Labem
1983 – 87 School of Applied Arts in Jablonec nad Nisou

Awards:
2007 48th October Salon Award, Beograd, Serbia
1998 The Jindřich Chalupecký Award, Prague
1996 The Soros Award, Prague

2009 Věci, kterých mi není líto, Muzeu V. Löfflera Košice, Slovensko
IFO archiv, atelier J. Sudka, Praha

2008 ABS video, SPACE Gallery, Cleveland, USA
Well, one never does the most important things anyway…,
Emil Filla Gallery, Ústi nad Labem

2007 ABS video, Futura Gallery, Prague
You, Artsdepot Gallery, London, UK (with Tereza Severová)
ABS video, Galleria Traghetto, Venezia, Italy
ABS video, Brno Gallery, Brno

2006
Bindings. Die Aktualität des Schönen… Gallery Liberec
Pincushions. Steinek Gallery, Vienna, Austria

2005
ABS Story. Jiří Švestka Gallery Prague
The Gagarin Thing. Vivid Centre for Media Arts Birmingham, Great Britain

2003
Spirit of the East on the West. Sokolska 26 Gallery Ostrava

2002
Brand New Rubbish. Jiří Švestka Gallery Prague
Bin Laden’s Lamp. Noname Gallery Rotterdam, Netherlands
Au-pair Medusa’s Room. Lara Vinci Gallery Paris, France

2001
META Pop. Miroslav Kraljević Gallery Zagreb, Croatia
Hard Pop Expo. Mama Gallery Rotterdam, Netherlands

2000
Bin Laden’s Lamp. Václav Špála Gallery Prague

2009 Czech Photogtaphy of 20th century, Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutchland GmbH, Bonn, Germany
Hell of things, Kronika Gallery, Bytom, Poland

2008 Reflecting Words, Museum of Czech Literature, Prague
Ultra, Zdeněk Sklenář Gallery, Prague
Performance – Nobody Redible, Zen Buddhist Temple in Changchun, China
Social Dialogue, Motorenhalle, Dresden, Germany
Place in Heart, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, Poland
What do you do for a living?, , Graz, Austria
Rebus sic stantibus, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum, Turku, Finland
Central Europe Revisited, Esterhazy Castle, Eisenstadt, Austria
Loophole to the Universe, Divus Unit 30, London, UK

2007
Art – Crtiticism. ICA Dunaújváros, Hungary
Demolition. The Israeli Center for Digital Art Holon, Izrael
Micro-Narratives, 48th October Salon 50 Godina. Kulturní Centar Beograd, Serbia
Form Follows… Risk. Futura Gallery Prague, National Gallery Bratislava, Slovakia

2006
Hot/Cold? – Summer Loving. Zacheta National Gallery of Art Warsaw, Poland
Apres Dada? Lara Vincy Gallery Paris, France
Gardino – Places for Small Stories. PAN, Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli Naples, Italy
Shadows of Humour.Bielska BWA Gallery Bielsko Biala, Poland; Avantgarde Gallery,
Wroclaw, Poland

2005
Czech Photography of the 20th Century, City Gallery Prague
Praguebiennale 2, Expanded Painting. Karlin Hall Prague
Nature´s Mirror. Otowa Gallery Tokyo, Japan
Domicile. Musée d´Art Moderne de Saint Etienne, France

2004
I Grandi Magazzini dell ´Arte. Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea Siena, Italy
Passage d´Europe. Musée d´Art Moderne de Saint Etienne, France

2003
Balkan Konsulat. association for contemporary art Graz, Austria
Praguebiennale 1, Pheripheries Become The Center. National Gallery – Collection of
Modern and Contemporary Art Prague

2002
Actual Intimity. City Gallery Prague

2001
New connection. National Gallery - Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art Prague
Triennial of Smallscale. Fellbach, Germany
Art against Tortures and Executions. Open social Network Art Project of National
Center for Contemporary Art Kaliningrad, Russia

2000
After the Wall. Museum of Modern Art Stockholm, Sweden; Ludwig Museum Budapest,
Hungary; Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin, Germany
East of Eden. Wyspa Gallery Gdańsk, Poland
All You Need Is Love. The Centre of Polish Art Laznia Gdańsk, Poland

National Gallery Prague Collection
The Prague City Gallery Collection
Museum of Contemporary Miami Collection

private:
Adam Rychard, Prague
Pavel Kneppo, Prague
Thomas Day Newbold, Prague, Washington
Bert-Jan van Egteren, Amsterdam
Santiago Eder, Amsterdam
Kenneth L. Freed, Boston
Habib Kheradyar, Los Angeles
Jürgen Flaskamp
Jerry Speyer, New York

Jiří Černický, Pincushions, texts: Jiří Černický, Lorand Hegyi, David Ebony, Michal Koleček, Prague, Mediagate, s.r.o. 2007

www.fuud.ujep.cz/app-content/user-files/ostatni/cernicky-pr.pdf

Jiří Černický is represented by Jiří Švestka Gallery /www.jirisvestka.com/