Dávid Valovič: Vulcanico
Opening: 19th June 2019 at 7pm
20. 6. - 8. 7. 2019
NIKA Gallery, Metro B Karlovo náměstí hall (direction Palackého náměstí)
Dávid Valovič, student of the UMPRUM Ceramics and Porcelain Studio, uses kitsch figurines from the Biedermeier era in his work, onto which he applies a swelling lava glazing, relayering not only their surface but also their original meaning and thereby creating wholly new and unique artistic artefacts.
How can we work with the kitsch phenomenon in the context of contemporary design and art? Dávid Valovič from the Studio of Ceramics and Porcelain at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague collects picturesque porcelain figurines on street markets and covers them with a special lava glaze that swells, explodes and merges sharp contours and creases into a solid porous structure resembling a saltwater coral. The entire installation then grows out of silicon carbide crystals, which are a natural component of the lava glaze. Valovič's work is thus a type of return to nature, whether in physical terms or symbolic, in which he tries to use and reinterpret already existing objects, thereby allowing them to continue their life by contrasting them with others.
Curator: Kamila Huptychová
Graphics: Vítek Jebavý & Jiří Macků