Miloslav Fekar

Miloslav Fekar creates monumental wooden sculptures for the outdoors. Because of his highly pared down sculptural language he is often classified as a post-minimalist (in the Czech Republic another such example would be Jan Ambrůz, Fekar’s compatriot).

Fekar studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU), Prague, and at the Faculty of Fine Arts (FaVU), Brno (with Professor Demartini and Professor Preclík), and very soon took an interest in the creation of sculptures as a reaction to a specific environment (from 1992 he executed private events in the countryside, which only exist today in the form of photographs). From the very start it was clear that his creative work would be decided by personal physical experience of space and landscape.

Fekar’s monumental sculptures can be divided roughly into two categories: organically conceived sculpture based on free natural morphology (e.g. Shell, Eggshell), and architectural sculptures which are characterised by geometric shapes and a constructional, often variable principle (e.g. Little Temple, Gazebo, Little Building). However, this classification is not absolute, and there exist clear overlaps between both groups. For instance, biomorphic sculptures may have an architectural quality, i.e. they are works which can be entered (Box for Two), while geometric constructions acknowledge the handiwork that has gone into them and their tactile quality invites them to be touched and occupied.

Fekar frequently conceives his work in terms of long-term projects, a fact which bears witness to the depth of his search and the systematic approach he adopts to the topics chosen. The project entitled Wandering (from 1999) represents a set of wooden objects the artist calls “spatially variable structures”, which have a wandering character – they can be relocated, supplemented and adapted (Stromovka Park, The Borders with Moravia, Kroměříž). They are characterised by openness toward space and time. Though Fekar’s work bears a certain resemblance to land art, it differs from that movement in that it is always deliberately located in cultural landscapes (parks), with which it holds a dialogue (references to the archetypal forms of gazebos). Fekar’s project Sculpture Orchard is closer to land art. Over a surface area of 7,500m2 the piece investigates the impact of his objects, which he has sometimes described as “sarcophagi of human feelings”, on the open landscape and in time.

In 2001 Fekar began to create slotted wooden organic objects in which he placed a light (Shells). The viewer’s interest is thus taken from the surface of the sculpture into its interior: the sculpture evokes the secret of creation or may be bearing witness to an almost magical emanation of substance. As Exupéry says: “What is essential is invisible to the eye”. Sometimes Fekar hangs his slotted objects in the crowns of trees, which lends them a new, almost cosmic significance. He is interested in their fluid activity in time, over a day, a year. He documents everything in colour photography, which means the conceptual continuation of his creative work.

For a sculpture an important moment is when the sculpture comes alive, i.e. when people touch it, enter it, explore it. From whence it was simply a small step to sculptures applied in utility production (designs for park furniture, the Sluňákov Ecology Centre, detached houses and gardens, etc.).

2007 objects for the Chateau Park, Hranice in Moravia

2007 objects for the Orio building in Ostrava

2005 object for the city of Voorburg vin Holland

reconstruction of a family house in Bezměrov (2003-09)

family house, Bezměrov (2009)

Hradisko - Kroměříž (2008)

Sítenské Valley Park , Kladno (2006)

Entablature for a private garden in Prague-Nusle (2006)

Wood Fancing for a Playground, Kroměříž (2005-6)

Waste Dump Recultivation, Kroměříž (2005)

Stone Fancing for a Playground, Kroměříž (2005)

park benches, Zlín (2005)

private garden in Prague-Černošice (2005)

objects for a private garden, Kroměříž (2003)

portals and gates, family house at Hrubá Skála (1998-2001)

Stromovka Park, Prague (1994-99)

Sate Design

2009 Dámská šatna, Studio Dva Praha (stage design)

2009 Ideální manžel, Národní divadlo Brno (stage design)

2008 Mein Faust, Slováckém divadle v Uherském Hradišti (stage design)

2007 Villon F. (Na krk oprátku ti věší) ve Slováckém divadle v Uherském Hradišti (stage design and animation)

MEDIA

Kultura.cz, Czech TV, Channel 2 - Miloslav Fekar´s portrait

Bydlení je hra, Czech TV, Channel 1 – Miloslav and Petra Fekars

Náš venkov, Czech TV, Channel 2 – Touha po prostoru (Longing for Space)

Osobnosti české architektury, Agentura Kdo je kdo, Praha 2003

Nejmladší, NG Veletržní palác, Praha 2003

Osobnosti české současnosti, Agentura Kdo je kdo, Praha 2002

Strasse der Skulpturen, Plauen 2002

Sochařské sympozium Přední Kopanina 2001, Ledoborec, Praha 2001

Moderní socha v Praze , Agentura Kdo je kdo, Praha 2000

Grand Prix obce architektů , Architekt , a.f.BKK, Praha 2000

Sochařské sympozium Sloup 98 , Galerie Caesar , Sprint Olomouc 1998

Slovník českych a slovenských výtvarných umělců 1950-98, Výtvarné centrum Chagall , Ostrava 1998

Demartini - Sochářská škola II , Galerie Medium , Orman , Bratislava 1993