Inside and Out

At this show, the Kvalitář gallery introduces some of the strongest and most dominant sculptural works that Tomáš Medek has created over the last ten years. The selection covers the artist’s complete range of ideas, which he materialises through 3D prints or by casting various materials, primarily bronze. Especially for this exhibition, Medek created a wooden object created by gently layering plywood and thus arriving at the feeling of a soft material. Unusual perspectives on common objects are crucial for the artist.

Sculptor Tomáš Medek (born 1969) has spent years tirelessly examining the structure and inner harmony of the particular physical laws, as well as the internal space, of his pieces.

“Medek seems to demonstrate life; to comment on the reverse side of the visible. He does all this without overly accentuating the pomposity of content or visual effects. What is at stake here are the objects themselves, their individual sovereignty, the right to and exclusivity of their essential existence. In a sense, Medek provides a patient commentary on nature as the proverbial principal architect. He names and describes that which is automatic, natural, and remarkable,” says exhibition curator Jan Kudrna about the artist’s work.

Both at home and abroad, Medek has attracted attention with his pieces exploring internal space. His Uroboros project won Art is Steel, an international competition for a monumental steel sculpture. He was successful in the Sochy pro Brno (Sculptures for Brno) call with a project for a memorial to Thomas Edison titled Žárovky (Lightbulbs). He currently teaches at the Fine Arts Faculty of the Brno University of Technology as an assistant to Michal Gabriel in the Studio of Sculpture I., whilst also leading the 3D Technology Cabinet at the same institution.