June 29 – September 30, 2007
on the 5th floor of the Veletržní Palace, National Gallery in Prague
Dukelských hrdinů 47, 170 00 Praha 7

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery in Prague / Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art in cooperation with French Institut in Prague and Gallery Jaroslav Krbůšek.

Curators of the exhibition: Miroslava Hájek, Helena Musilová (National Gallery in Prague)
Exhibition concept: Miroslava Hájek, Jaroslav Krbůšek, Helena Musilová, Vladimír Škoda
Graphic layout of printed material: Martin Pivrnec

Main partner of the NG: HVB Bank
Sponsor of the NG: Synot Lotto, a.s.
Main Media Partner: Hospodářské noviny
Media Partners: Art&Antiques, Radio Classic FM, ČRo 3 – Vltava, Radio 1

Partners: CULTURESFRANCE,  Pavel Špráchal – PARS, SIPRAL, František Hlásek 
Jaroslav a Míla Kyncl, Isabelle a Jean-Christophe Bénistante in memory of Marie-Hélè ne Montenay,, Christophe Melard,  Edouard Tay-Pamart, Marc Kreydenweiss – Vins d’Alsace, Andlau, GAEC Thomas Yves et Eric – Vins de Vouvray, Parçay-Meslay, Nečas & Průdek - Sdružení vinařů, Serge Faure – French lyceum in Prague

The Czech-French sculptor Vladimír Škoda is one of the most interesting artists on the contemporary European scene. Grounded in his Czech experience, the artist’s work elaborates on stimuli in European art. It achieves an original and extraordinary synthesis, which even at first glance is remarkably attractive.

In collaboration with the artist, Prague’s French Institute and the Jaroslav Krbůšek Gallery, the National Gallery in Prague is organizing an exhibition of Vladimír Škoda’s work as part of a long-term plan to present the work of artists who have spent most of their lives as expatriates. The artist has specifically designed the exhibition for the fifth floor of the Veletržní Palace and focused on artwork of the last decade, i.e. pieces not yet seen in the Czech Republic, which highlight artist’s growing international importance. The second part of the exhibition will take place in the French Institute in Prague.  Vladimir Škoda’s last exhibition in Prague – Constellation – was held in the Rudolfinum gallery in 1995. The artist displayed installations of iron spheres, which, when assembled, resembled constellations of stars in reference to Prague’s tradition of astronomy. Artist’s concept for this new exhibition is a response to the Prague legend that identifies the city as a possible entrance to an alternative reality of time and space. The display is composed of steel objects, spheres and sphere segments whose polished mirror-like surfaces offer a distorted reality. Some introduce the viewer to a melted, vibrating space mediating the experience of looking in infinite and unknown directions. Concave mirrors, exploiting the effect of pendulums suspended in front of them, produce a kind of visible air “bubble” and vibrating mirrors translate their surroundings into a blurry, flickering vision. Works such as Fourth Dimension and Distorsion-Vision depict forms that do not exist in reality. Through optical effects, Vladimir Škoda creates links between individual objects and between the objects and their environment. In this manner, he steps beyond sculpture’s spatial limitations, contextualising his work in the cosmos.

A companion publication written by Miroslava Hájek and Helena Musilová (National Gallery in Prague) in cooperation with the artist will accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition at the National Gallery in Prague will be open on the 5th floor of the Veletržní Palace from June 29 to September 30, 2007 daily, except Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The exhibition in the French Institute in Prague will be open from June 29 to September 28, 2007 daily, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed on Sundays.

The French Institute in Prague will present Vladimír Škoda’s video Troisiè me loi de Newton: toute action est accompagnée d’une réaction égale et opposée / Newton’s Third Law – For Every Action There Is an Equal and Opposite Reaction and an installation Rêve de Kafka / Kafka’s dream.

National Gallery in Prague / Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art
Veletržní palác, Dukelských hrdinů 47, 170 00 Praha 7
Tel.: +420 224 301 122, e-mail: info.smsu@ngprague.cz
www.ngprague.cz

French Institute in Prague
Štěpánská 35, 111 21 Praha1
Tel.:+420 221 401 011, e-mail: ifp@ifp.cz

Gallery Jaroslav Krbůšek, www.galeriejaroslavkrbusek.cz

Contacts for journalists:
Marcela Hančilová (National Gallery in Prague), hancilova@ngprague.cz,
Ludek Kanda (French Institute in Prague), ludek.kanda@ifp.cz
Renata Leroy-Vávrová (for Vladimír Škoda), vladimir.skoda@wanadoo.fr