Zdeněk Hůla

Zdeněk Hůla studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU), and graduated in 1972). He still paints, though since 1984 he has also occupied himself with sculpture and is probably best known these days as a sculptor rather than painter.

In the 1980s he began creating objects mostly from wood, along with twigs, branches and small logs. He emphasises the organisation of the material as well as its construction, assembling a host of objects into simple, regular shapes. In Coloured Statue he inserted mirrors into a geometrical wooden structure which reflect the surroundings and evoke the impression of infinity.

Since 1994 Hůla has worked mainly with stone. He uses hard stone, mainly granite, which allows him to make exact and permanent cuts. He does not process the entire block of stone, but prefers to exploit the contrast between the smooth, worked surface and the natural form of the stone. He splits some blocks in half in order to place them back to back. Most of his sculptures are composed of two blocks. He sometimes fits both parts together perfectly (in “soft contact” as he puts it), while other times cracks appear which allow the artist to play with the effect of the light passing through the stone. This is apparent in the “astronomical” sculpture entitled From Solstice to Solstice (1998): when the solstice or equinox takes place, beams of light penetrate the stone and fall onto one spot. The sculptures Sundial (1998) and Sun Gate operate on a similar principle.

Sculptures linking stone and glass form a special group of Hůla’s work, in which he works with the contrast between the full substantiality of stone and the lightness, delicacy and translucency of glass. Heavy boulders are placed on a glass table which is invisible from afar, so creating the impression that the stone is hovering in the air.

Hůla began his career as a painter as a figurist, though was more and more drawn to the theme of nature and natural events, which finally predominated as a theme in his paintings. Geometrising elements intermingle with organic forms. The painter’s main interest was in finding an order, a fixed point in the chaos of the world and the cosmos. Although his early paintings as a student were figural, after graduating he devoted himself to abstraction, and continues to do so to the present day.

The starting point of Hůla’s abstract canvases is often landscape, the sky or the universe and stars as symbols of infinity. The first cycle he completed after graduation was a series of paintings entitled Strange Landscapes, in which he address the depressing situation of the 1970s as well as personal experiences (the death of his father). In the 70s he created the cycle Forbes – Pictures of Fruit Machines from Pubs. At the end of the 70s he returned to landscapes and created the cycle Attempt at One Year, painted on a chalk underlay. At the beginning of the 80s there followed a short intermezzo during which he returned to figurism in the cycle entitled Streets. These pictures for the first time feature the grid as a construction element, an element which still remains an integral part of Hůla’s work. In the 80s the grid was combined with geometric motifs (point, circle, triangle, square, straight line, segment, curve). However, the strict geometry of these canvases is always disturbed. Sometimes the basic geometrical forms are left partially unpainted, while at other times the entire composition is violently disrupted by gestural painting. In the 1990s Hůla created the cycle entitled Still Life with Fruit, another development of the principles of his paintings of the 80s and a reference to Paula Cézanne and that artist’s declaration that the artist should paint in accordance with the form of basic stereometric shapes in nature. The last of Hůla’s cycles, created after 2000, is a series of pictures on the theme of the Natural Elements – Fire, Water, Earth and Air.

Art in Architecture and Public Spaces:

Czech Republic:

2007

KAPLIČKA SV. GOTHARDA / dřevo, žula, sklo / Kostelec n. Č. l.

STRÁŽCE TICHA / žula, sklo / 537 x 75 x 69 cm / Strakonice

2005

KŘÍŽ / mramor, dřevo / Kostelec n. Č. l. / kostel Andělů strážných

2003

POMNÍK ELEONORY Z EREMBERKU / Kámen – žula, sklo / Ondřejov

STRÁŽCI / mramor, sklo / Praha / Dalajské údolí

OLTÁŘ / mramor, sklo / Kostelec n. Č. l. / kostel Andělů strážných

2001

SFÉRY / žula, beton / Ondřejov / hvězdárna

2000

FONTÁNKA / žula / Praha / Karlín

1998

OD SLUNOVRATU K SLUNOVRATU / žula / Ondřejov / hvězdárna 1992 – OBLAKA A PROUDY / dřevěná plastika / Kostelec n. Č. l. / zvonice kostela sv. Jana Křtitele

1997

DVA / žulový patník / Kostelec n. Č. l.

1995

PAMÁTNÍK OBĚTEM ROMSKÉHO HOLOCAUSTU / syenit / Lety u Písku

1994

SKÁLY / malba a asambláž na dřevotřísce / Turnov / Lidová škola umění

1994

STAVEBNICE / stoly a židle / Praha / Rokový klub Komutovka

1989

PECIVÁL / loutky pro animovaný film

1983

KRÁSA ČESKÉ KRAJINY / keramická mozaika / Praha

1982

MNOŽINY / keramická mozaika /

DO ŽIVOTA / keramická mozaika / 700 X 350 cm / Slezská Ostrava / gymnasium

1980

ZE ŠKOLY / keramická mozaika / 500 x 300 cm / Kostelec n. Č. l. / školní jídelna (zničeno)

KRAJINA / keramická mozaika / 200 x 300 cm / Kostelec n. Č. l. /dům Krupků

1978

TICHO / keramická mozaika / 180 x 97 cm / Ústí nad Labem / onkologické oddělení KN (zničeno)

1977

BOHATSTVÍ ZEMĚ / kamenná mozaika /350 x 1200 cm / Praha / Vysoká škola ekonomická

Abroad:

2009

TANČÍCÍ V ANTIBES / žula, sklo / 420 x 130 x 83 cm / Antibes / Francie

Symposia:

Czech Republic:

2008

Broumovsko, Baroko a pískovec

2001

Ondřejov, Kameny a Hvězdy

2000

Ondřejov, Kameny a hvězdy

Telč, Sochařské setkání 2000

1999

Hořice, 16. Mezinárodní sochařské symposium

Ondřejov, Kameny a hvězdy

Jindřichův Hradec, Mezinárodní sochařské žulové symposium

1998

Ondřejov, Kameny a hvězdy

1997

Valtice, Velký formát

Symposia Abroad

2007

Slovensko, Nový Smokovec, Umělci Tatrám

2003

Rakousko, Hetzmannsdorf, Kunstfeld

2002

Rakousko, Klement, Int. Steinbildhauer-symposion Ernstbrun

2001

Švédsko, Gerlesborg, Kulturbro

1998 – 2003

symposia KAMENY A HVĚZDY (Stones and Stars), in collaboration with the Ondřejov Observatory

1992 – 2010

running the Kruh Gallery in Kostelec nad Černými Lesy (along with Josef Volvovič), organizing thematic intermedia presentations - 1992 Circle,1993 Reflection, 1995 Interface, 1996 Without and Assignement, 1997 Two, 1998 Nature, 1999 Extreme, 2000 Chance, 2001 Play, 2002 Light, 2003 Fire, 2004 Water, 2005 Earth, 2006 Air, 2007 Journey, 2008 Night, 2009 Mountain, 2010 Forest.