Jiri Cernicky

The new solo show of Jiri Cernicky, holder of the 1988 Jindrich Chalupecky Prize, opened in the JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY on the 18th of April, 2002. In this exhibition, entitled Brand New Rubbish, Cernicky, one of the most exciting Czech artists of the younger generation, develops themes and subjects which have surfaced previously in his work. Using a variety of media - sculpture, painting, installation, and photography, as well as video and electronic media - Cernicky manages to uncover, with his characteristic wit and subtlety, a number of the most thought-provoking issues underlying present-day society. These range from subjects as diverse as terrorism, mass-production, mass-consumption, recycling, and the growing economic gap between social classes, to the apparent banality of animal excrement.

Speaking of his new exhibition, Cernicky has said: 'In actual fact, the exhibition at the JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY has no subject. It is the product of four years of work, so I was looking for a suitable title that would cover the various themes. Brand New Rubbish is for me a slogan which draws together the common elements of the works. It stems from a mild horror that has arisen within me while wandering in our modern-day hypermarkets. Inevitably, one begins to question the sense in the consumer cycle. By presenting, in its purist form, a radical abbreviation of the full cycle - from the technicolour splendour that confronts one in the store, to the remains that are thrown on the dust heap - I hope to convey an overview of the cycle in its entirety. Via this pure and unclouded vision, one witnesses the consumption cycle without the consumption.'

Jiri Svestka sees in Brand New Rubbish a welcome opportunity to introduce to a Czech audience an artist who, perversely, has rapidly gained greater recognition abroad than within his own country. 'Jiri Cernicky has been propelled into the international limelight of late. The Triennial in Fellbach, the most important event in the field of small-scale sculpture, dedicated the space on their poster and catalogue cover to Cernicky. At this very moment, he is being shown not only in Prague, but also at the avant-garde No Name Gallery in Rotterdam and the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin. In May, Cernicky will have a one-person show in a private gallery in Paris. His work also caught the attention of renowned critics at the New York Armory Show art fair, in which our gallery participated in February of this year. I am glad that Jiri Cernicky's international success is now being reflected in the interest of Czech collectors of art.' On the artistic conception of the exhibition, Jiri Svestka comments, 'at the centre of the exhibition is Sony Garden, a Japanese zen garden created not with traditional materials such as sand or pebbles, but with the rubble resulting from the physical destruction of electronic goods. It connects Japanese tradition with high-tech technology. Alongside this, Jiri's preoccupation with "terroristic" themes continues with works from the cycle Terrorists as Tourists. Brand New Rubbish also presents photographs depicting scenes of chaos reconstructed within an office setting, as well as a quirky take on a cat's latrine. Another focus of the exhibition is the baseball mitt with crystal beading which hangs in the middle of the gallery space. Projected behind it is a video showing the mitt in action. The work is entitled Hollywood Stars, in connection with the famous LA baseball team. What is particularly inspiring about Cernicky, and evident in this exhibition, is his ability to grasp at things swimming under the surface of reality which are yet to have their inevitable social impact. Take the cycle Bin Laden's Magic Lamp, 1994-99, for example, made at a time when few people were even aware of the threat posed to our society by international terrorists.'

Jiri Cernicky
Brand New Rubbish