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First name
Ivan

Surname
Kafka

Born
1952

Birth place
Prague

Lives and works in
Prague

Keywords
drawing
installation art
land art
photography
public art
 

Info
Seeks a new identity for artefacts, one that is static but yet has potential for movement at the same time, personalised minimalist resources, lyricism but yet a non-sentimental substance.
The ability to ask timely questions about contemporary society’s relationship to nature, on personal freedom and obligations to society, a strong feeling for the creativity of cultural and geographic differences. This is how we could generally characterise the creations of Ivan Kafka. For his type he is unique but still open to a wide spectrum of interpretation. He can engage the viewer with a simple, universally understandable language – without verbose packaging, encrypted symbols, or additional explanations. Of himself he has, for a long time now, had a fixed spot in the Czech and international creative (art) scenes.

Kafka tends mostly to express himself through big installations in the countryside. He uses them to take basically utilitarian objects and introduce them in new relationships to natural happenings (i.e. the long-term project, Room for Freedom (and also Despair) / Prostor volnosti (i skleslosti) – a modified compositional set of windsocks in various parts of Europe. He is also interested in exploring the possibilities of closed, architecturally-fixed, determined space (i.e. the interior set up of ping-pong balls, battle-axes, darts, or the arms on watches that run their cycle, but do not show the time, or installations hung at precisely-defined levels from pieces of white cotton, which is an artificial transfiguration of a cloudy sky, Darkened Light).

He similarly understands the challenge of municipal bodies (i.e. Boundaries (Limitations) on Jánský vršek in Prague / Vymezení na Jánském vršku v Praze, Joyous Alarm in London and Munich / Výstraha z radosti v Londyně a Mnichově). Kafka reassesses given space to provide it a new order and through this a new purpose. He uses multiple resources which themselves have their own potential and reflect a completely different function from their original ones.
Each Kafka work is integral in its sense of unity both general and private. It is however primarily the private role that directs Kafka’s creativity. In large public installations it is there for its potential and without superfluous proclamations. However, from time to time Kafka has a need to focus exclusively on it (creativity). This concerns an in-depth research on problems that demand greater attention and focused contemplation on the paradox of the relationship between natural and artificial, public and private. In these moments Kafka chooses to use a smaller format. These are a certain type of space commentary (sketches, Plexiglas cubes), which have the same meaning for him as do larger installations. Kafka’s realisations are based on a firmly-set concept, whose important component is a clearly-formulated idea. At times it may be expressed in the title, which also becomes a fundamental part of the artistic work. Similarly it has a minimalist aesthetic, preferring rather the traditional.

Author of the annotation
Hana Rousová
 


Member of art groups included in ARTLIST.
12:15, Pozdě, ale přece
 
Group exhibitions included in ARTLIST.
Dialog Prague - Los Angeles, 1989 - 1990
Dialog Prague - Los Angeles, 1989 - 1990
Hvězda/Hájenka 1981, 1981
Chmelnice v Mutějovicích, 1983
Staroměstské dvorky (Old Town Courtyards), 1990
Yards 81, (Yards in Lesser Town in Prague), 1981
 
 
up
 
  Selected works
Untitled, Ivan Kafka,   2008
Untitled, 2008
 
Zdvojení 1291/1995, Ivan Kafka,   1995
Zdvojení 1291/1995, 1995
 
Výstraha z radosti I, Ivan Kafka,   1992
Výstraha z radosti I, 1992
 
Přítomná minulost, minulá přítomnost, Ivan Kafka,   1991
Přítomná minulost, minulá přítomnost, 1991
 
Skutečnost a sen, Ivan Kafka,   1990
Skutečnost a sen, 1990
 
Sedm kamenných hromad pro Stein, Ivan Kafka,   1988
Sedm kamenných hromad pro Stein, 1988
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře V, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře V, 1986
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře III, 1986
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře II, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře II, 1986
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře IV, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře IV, 1986
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře I, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře I, 1986
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře VII, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře VII, 1986
 
Společná Jyväskylská hora na jezeře, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Společná Jyväskylská hora na jezeře, 1986
 
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře VI, Ivan Kafka,   1986
Lesní koberec pro náhodného houbaře VI, 1986
 
Bílá koule na Bílé hoře, Ivan Kafka,   1984
Bílá koule na Bílé hoře, 1984
 
Bílá koule na Bílé hoře, Ivan Kafka,   1984
Bílá koule na Bílé hoře, 1984
 
Zavěšení, Ivan Kafka,   1983
Zavěšení, 1983
 
Zaplnění, Ivan Kafka,   1982
Zaplnění, 1982
 
Přesložení, Ivan Kafka,   1982
Přesložení, 1982
 
Přesložení , Ivan Kafka,   1982
Přesložení , 1982
 
To samé v bledězeleném, Ivan Kafka,   1981
To samé v bledězeleném, 1981
 
Vymezení, Ivan Kafka,   1981
Vymezení, 1981
 
To samé v bleděmodrém, Ivan Kafka,   1981
To samé v bleděmodrém, 1981
 
Untitled, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Untitled, 1980
 
Kámen, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Kámen, 1980
 
Led, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Led, 1980
 
Listí, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Listí, 1980
 
Písek, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Písek, 1980
 
Sláma, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Sláma, 1980
 
Sníh, Ivan Kafka,   1980
Sníh, 1980
 
Dural, Ivan Kafka,   1979
Dural, 1979
 
Pro soukromou maxipotřebu II, Ivan Kafka,   1979
Pro soukromou maxipotřebu II, 1979
 
For Privatekrychle Maxi-Need III, Ivan Kafka,   1979
For Privatekrychle Maxi-Need III, 1979
 
For Private Maxi-Need I, Ivan Kafka,   1979
For Private Maxi-Need I, 1979
 
Proutí, Ivan Kafka,   1979
Proutí, 1979
 
Prostor volnosti i skleslosti III, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Prostor volnosti i skleslosti III, 1975
 
Prostor (Ostrov) volnosti i skleslosti IV, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Prostor (Ostrov) volnosti i skleslosti IV, 1975
 
Prostor (Ostrov) volnosti i skleslosti IV, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Prostor (Ostrov) volnosti i skleslosti IV, 1975
 
Space (Order) of Latitude and Dejection V, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Space (Order) of Latitude and Dejection V, 1975
 
Space (Order) of Latitude and Dejection VI, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Space (Order) of Latitude and Dejection VI, 1975
 
Prostor (Dvě linie) volnosti i skleslosti VII, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Prostor (Dvě linie) volnosti i skleslosti VII, 1975
 
Pytel 2, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Pytel 2, 1975
 
Sack 3, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Sack 3, 1975
 
Sack 4, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Sack 4, 1975
 
Pytel, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Pytel, 1975
 
Space of Latitude and Dejection II, Ivan Kafka,   1975
Space of Latitude and Dejection II, 1975
 
b 3, Ivan Kafka
b 3
 
b 2, Ivan Kafka
b 2
 
b 1, Ivan Kafka
b 1
 
a 1, Ivan Kafka
a 1
 
a 2, Ivan Kafka
a 2
 
a 3, Ivan Kafka
a 3
 

 
 
 
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