International premiere of the Applied Art Association at Designblok 2022
In 2021, an important initiative was created in the forest of Slovak design - Applied Art Association. Their ambition is not to be just some small and quiet forest clearing, but a strong self-confidence endemic that will help to make their work visible to its authors and open up important topics they touch on their work. Her first one takes place on Designblok! international premiere.
Where:
Designblok 2022, Praha
Gabriel Loci; 2.floor; room 268
ENDEMIT AUU
The year 2021 was not easy, and the current year is not giving us a break, either. Despite the unfavourable situation, an important initiative entitled Association of Applied Arts was established in 2021 in the Slovak design jungle. Its goal is to avoid being just some small and quiet forest clearing, but instead be a strong confident endemic that will help its artists highlight their work and raise important issues that affect their creative process. The Association is also happy to welcome into its imaginary abode representatives of other professions that overlap with applied art, such as curators, art historians, architects, etc. The founding members are all prominent personalities of the Slovak design scene, whose work is shifting towards so-called applied art and authorial design.
Designblok is hosting the Association’s first international première! Ceramists Simona Janišová and Linda Viková and glass designers Aleksandra Stencel and Patrik Illo are exhibiting their works in a joint installation as ambassadors of the Association. These are all artists with a rich portfolio of their own projects, collaborations, independent curatorial projects and awards, artists who have participated in international exhibitions. It is clear from their existing work that they are not afraid to experiment with technology, that they contemplate the freedom of form, and that overlaps into free art are not out of the question for them. Janišová presents a fiery collection, serving both as a humorous commentary and a warning. Man needs a spark to start a fire, just like ceramics need fire to be created. But a fire in the woods can pose a problem, and a big one at that. Viková’s work is earth-related and develops the theme of the abundance of matter. Her pastose objects have weight and yet retain their minimalist form, sometimes subtly disturbed by the glazing. Illo reflects on both the origins of the glass matter and the intervention of the artist. His vases seem to free themselves and slowly crawl out of the depths into the light of day. Stencel, on the other hand, is poetic – her lyrical objects seem to have fallen out of the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, or are there to summon the forest fairies to their midnight dance. Feel free to join them.
Ľubica Hustá