Lot 223

Michal Gabriel (1960) A TREE TRUNK

Michal Gabriel, winner of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award for 1994, currently head of the Sculpture Studio at the Faculty of Arts of the Brno University of Technology, began to appear on the Czech art scene in the mid-1980s as part of collective generational exhibitions known as Confrontations. From the Confrontations and other joint events, a direct path led to the founding of the TVRDOHLAVÍ group (1987), which together with Gabriel included his peer-artists such as Jiří David, Jaroslav Róna, Čestmír Suška and František Skála. The sculpture on offer, entitled "Tree Trunk" in patinated bronze, associates an inverted figure with its feet pointing heavenwards. "The figure has always been primary for me. I feel that perhaps an artist cannot begin anywhere else but by coming to terms with this theme." There is also a wax, walnut shell and laminate version of this sculpture, highlighting the playful approaches to materials and creative processes. Gabriel continues to experiment in the present day, particularly in the field of 3D technology. Published: Michal Gabriel, Prague, 2005, p. 113.