Vaclav Pozarek has been a guest in the Sitterwerk since the beginning of May 2017. He moved into the guest studio when the temperatures were inclemently cool, donned his blue work clothes, and set himself up for a stay of at least three months.
Vaclav Pozarek was born in Czechoslovakia in 1940, has lived in Bern for over 30 years, and is one of the most important personalities in Swiss contemporary art. He is a sculptor and graphic designer and moves with rigorous autonomy between Conceptual and Minimal art.
Equipped with wood, brown paint, and ink, the artist has embarked on a journey in the Sitterwerk. His plan is to produce sculptures, and later perhaps have one or the other of them cast in metal. He always draws in the evening.
His sculptures are autonomous and functionless—although they often suggest the opposite on first glance. Assembled from found scraps of wood, and equipped with hinges, doors, and empty and in-between spaces, they make a serious impression—quasi, as if they have an important task to fulfill.
The sculptural objects are, however, first given a function in combination with one another: As part of an ensemble, they become characters that, under Vaclav Pozarek’s direction, play specific roles, roles that can also change depending on the constellation. He then speaks of actors—Vaclav Pozarek studied directing at the film academy in Prague—sometimes also of prostheses.
Vaclav Pozarek’s work is influenced not only by his knowledge of film. Topics such as typography, architecture, and sculpture also interest him. For this reason, one also often finds him in the Art Library. There are so many great books in the Sitterwerk, Vaclav Pozarek complains, that he does not even get around to working at all. His waggishness is, however, immediately unmasked when one enters the guest studio. Someone industrious, focused, and extremely concentrated is at work here. The workroom is carefully organized, the work areas neatly arranged, and everything has its place—also the slippers, outside on the right, on the third to last step to the sleep area.
Vaclav Pozarek’s working method is anything but capricious, dreamy, or playful. He works in a targeted manner, even though the formal theme of his work first emerges when he is modeling the materials. Waste of material horrifies him. He would preferably create things out of nothing. But that is not possible, so he works in a way that is as minimalistic as possible. Vaclav Pozarek’s art is straightforward and radical, clever and astute. One can get insights into his work at the open studio in the Sitterwerk and then, starting in September, in a solo exhibition at the Galerie Barbara Wien in Berlin.
Open Studio
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
starting at 6pm