Lukáš Gavlovský’s work flows naturally from his interest in the surrounding world, especially the landscape. It is characterised by the fact that the form of the work is derived from the material used. Natural resources are an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Even in his childhood Gavlovský was interested in the structure and different surface of various rocks. This curiosity turned into a lifelong fascination with nature, which remains the basis of his work.
Gavlovský’s talent was recognised early. At the age of fourteen he left his native Ostrava for Prague to study at the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts. From the very start his style does not have a single, limiting, defined form, but changes depending on the needs of the work in progress. Though he is often perceived as a sculptor and land artist, these are only the most visible manifestations of his creative personality. While Gavlovský studied painting with Professor Pavel Nešleha at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, his manner of painting again reflects his admiration for landscape, material and substance.
While still a student, he made an exploratory trip to the active volcanoes of Italy, a location that became an important source of inspiration in the future and to which he returns repeatedly. Upon his return he created a triptych dedicated to the sites he visited (Etna, Vulcan, Stromboli) using the ash and sulphur he collected there. This is the first major painting in which he discovers a method or technique that suits his sculptural focus. He goes on to create paintings using clay, mineral pigments and natural dye made from oak or lime. The binding agent is usually gum arabic, bone glue or beeswax, and the base a wooden panel. When creating the painting, which was based on the geological structure of the Jeseniky Mountains (Tektonika / Techtonics, 1999), he used mineral pigments from local rocks (mainly from the heaps of red mines in Zlaté Hory) and gold leaf. The clay painting then naturally transitions into a wall sculpture. Gavlovský created a striking relief from natural materials in 2009 in a school in Brno focused on ecology (Lipka, Kamenná 20). His subsequent work is conceived with regard to the place where it is to be situated (Clay Facade of a Detached House in Hradčany u Tišnova, 2010, or Clay Relief on the Theme of the Sacred Dadap Tree in the Dadap Café, Prague Libeň, 2012).
The trip to Italy also resulted in an object in the landscape, which Gavlovský built in protest against the devastation of the volcanic mountain Tlustec, threatened by basalt mining. The artificial mountain-volcano had three entrances, each of which contained ash and stone from one of Italy’s active volcanoes. This was Gavlovský’s first major land-art work and was created as part of the Lemberk 95 Symposium. His respect for the landscape is also evident in his first works in public space, created after graduating from art school. In 1999, he created a children’s playground made of wooden logs in the Botanical Gardens of the City of Prague, where he also carried out his civilian service. This is one of the distinctive directions his work was to take. He has subsequently created a number of playgrounds. He creates various play and acoustic elements from natural materials available, using which he allows the user to explore their own relationship with nature and develop it further. Other objects, such as benches, rest areas, footbridges and piers are also indirectly related to the playgrounds. In Gavlovský’s hands these reinforce our connection with nature and serve as mediators between humankind and a specific place in the landscape. Recycling fallen trees and work with stone becomes a fixed part of the production process.
The artist’s own house in Výžerky (2008) also became one of his projects. The building, designed by Oliver Kálnássy, was built with a view to possible recycling and compostability in the future. The residential structure is “inserted” into the original stone barn and the wooden structure is filled with straw bales. The walls are plastered on both sides with clay and the interior features coloured stucco depicting the geological sites from which the soil was extracted.
One of his most recent projects to cause a stir again draws for subject matter on the character of the material used. The object Srdce pro Václava Havla / A Heart for Václav Havel was created from the wax of memorial candles lit after the death of the former president. Gavlovský and his collaborator Roman Švejda poured a total of 2,300 kilograms of wax collected from streets and town squares across the country into the shape of an open heart that can be entered. The object, approximately two metres high, was subsequently displayed in many places across the Czech Republic.
Gavlovský’s work in the public sphere brings the viewer closer to the landscape in various forms or instantiates a specific place. A similar principle applies in the case of Srdce pro Václava Havla, which is designed as a nook encouraging contemplation. Respect for the natural world is intertwined with social respect. Given the current state of the planet and the ecological straits we find ourselves in, the relevance of Gavlovský’s approach, which goes beyond the purely personal, could not be more apparent.
