В Лондоне открывается выставка знаковых работ чешского художника Дэвида Черна, напечатанных на 3D-принтерах

LONDON.- A new exhibition by Czech artist David Čern — one of the most renowned visual artists of his generation and influential creator of Prague’s public space — opens in London on 12 September, showcasing the artist’s most notable works from the 1990s. The works will be on display as models reprinted in 3D by the globally successful Czech company Prusa Research. The exhibition is presented as part of the London Design Festival and the 30th Made in Prague Festival organised by the Czech Centre. Čern, whose push-up making double-decker became a sensation during the 2012 London Olympics, will attend the opening of his solo London exhibition. At the centre of the exhibition stand The Babies, one of the symbols of modern Prague, the giant sized sculptures crawling the TV tower in the Žižkov district of the Czech capital, and the story of Prague’s Pink Tank, the installation that propelled David Čern to fame in 1991 and signalled a new chapter in Czech visual art. Originally installed in Prague after WWII to honour the liberation of Czechoslovakia, the monument later became a symbol of oppression and propaganda after the Soviet-led invasion with 6300 tanks as a crackdown on the Prague Spring in 1968. By coating the tank in an absurdist shade of pink shortly after the Velvet Revolution, Čern captured the optimism and creative freedom that swept the country with the fall of communism in 1989. Čern’s signature humour and provocative flair infuse all his work, and his London exhibition is no exception. Alongside the Pink Tank, the exhibition features other defining pieces from the 1990s, including Čern’s irreverent reinterpretation of the St Wenceslas statue — the Czech patron saint perched atop an upside down horse — or the Meat piece for which he was awarded the Jindřich Chalupeck Award for the most promising Czech visual artist of 2000. Each work presented in the exhibition has been reprinted in 3D for by Prusa Research, the innovative Czech company and global leader in 3D printer manufacturing, highlighting how rapidly evolving technology is expanding the possibilities of contemporary art. To further complement the exhibition, a photographic display of Čern’s monumental Prague installations is presented in the public space outside the gallery, underscoring the artist’s striking influence on the city’s visual landscape. David Čern: The Glorious 90s in Prague. Reprinted by Prusa Research opens at the Vitrnka Gallery on 12 September. The exhibition is organised by the Czech Centre and is part of the London Design Festival and Czech Centre’s 30th Made in Prague Festival. Exhibition dates: 12 September – 31 December 2026. Born in Prague (Czech Republic) in 1967 to a family of artists, David Čern studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague between 1988 and 1996. In 1990, he received the Special Prize in the Biennale of Kortrijk, Belgium. One year later, he began his residential scholarship in Boswil, having received a grant from the Swiss Government. In 1994, he moved to New York as an artist in residence at the PS1 gallery. Two years later, he completed the Whitney Independent Study Program. In 1996, Čern won another grant, this time from the Pollack-Krasner Foundation in the United States, and in 2000, he received the Czech Republic’s Jindřich Chalupeck Award for being the country's most promising visual artist under the age of 35. Čern’s exhibition Artocalypsa, exploring the trajectory of violence in human within human civilization, is currently on display in Venice, coinciding with the 61st Venice Biennale. In 2001, Čern founded Meetfactory, a non-profit international centre for contemporary art based in Prague. In 2017, he started Black n' Arch, an architectural studio known for its innovative approaches to architecture and design. Besides his artwork, David Čern is active in the fields of theatre and cinema, music, design and architecture.