The influence of Marcel Duchamp and Henry Moore, with us, for example, Karel Nepraš, Zbyněk Sekala or Libor Fáry. And also the era of Communism, which, as a human and an artist, has been an irreconcilable attitude throughout life. All of this reflects the work of Milan Beranek (1936), a remarkable artist and sculptor, signatory of Charter 77. His first independent exhibitions have been attained now, at one-eighty years. A selection from his lifelong work will be presented from 5 October to 5 November in the gallery of Arthouse Hejtmánek in Prague-Bubeneč.
From non-return to the exhibition
Lamb's sculptures, colored objects and assemblages of wood would most likely end up in the container. Literally at the last minute - shortly before the relocation of Milan Beranek from his three-room flat - he was saved by the gallery, collector and academic painter Tomáš Hejtmánek.
Together with artistic poems, period photographs and a newly filmed documentary, the work of a distinctive and extraordinarily creative author will be presented for the first time to the public. The exhibition will be open daily, closed on October 28th. Her sightseeing is also a unique opportunity to visit the 17th-century bubble villa, home of the gallery and auction house.
Experience from exhibition and space
"Milan Beránek has created many works of high quality, often ironic to the one party government, so it would be a great shame for him and his work to fall into oblivion. My goal is not only to present his work with dignity, but also to get him into collections and galleries, " says Tomáš Hejtmánek, who is also the author of the exhibition.
He himself, as a gallerite and the owner of a major auction house, specializes in the discovery of unknown or unjustly neglected authors. Among these were the sculptor Jaroslav Horejc, whose last successful exhibition in Arthouse Hejtmánek is now a follow-up to the Lamb's retrospective.
The exhibition is installed in the studio and on the ground floor of the house. One of the rooms reminds of a part of the artist's flat: it is similar to a room in a building where Milan Beranek lived and worked. Apart from the Lamb's works, it is also an experience of their original installation in a stylish furnished villa. It shows how gracefully and tastefully combining old art with contemporary design.
New Life of Old Things
Traditional material in the Lamb's work is sculptural plasticine, thanks to which he was able to completely and freely realize his ideas both in plastic sketches, designs for larger sculptures, as well as in some small figurative themes. He captured biblical themes or emotional states (fears and uncertainties), matches, or mergers, or abstracted from exploring geometric relationships and penetrations.
Another notable and interesting part of the Lamb's work are the objects made mostly from the found things. From the 1960s he had been constantly searching for objects that made a new sense. He gave a new life to things often condemned to extinction. The name of the work, then, most of the time, wisely underlined the chosen theme, and often the work appeared as a sarcastic answer to the contemporary political situation. The newly created objects initially colored only black, gradually applying other colors, especially red and yellow.
Texts and poems
The great part of the artist's work also consisted of poems he had spent all his life. We can find love poems here as well as those that respond to social events, but they all speak of a very sensitive person. Between Lamb's short poems we can find very interesting experimental texts.
"I do not like my creation and I do not want it. Understanding and affiliation is my endeavor. I seek and recognize, I try to understand and I am afraid of my life and that of others. Everyone who is consciously without guilt is good or bad with his own destiny, which he transforms according to his abilities and the light he is in his life, " Milan Beránek remarked on his work in August 1984.
Source: tz, edited editorially