Cigler Václav & Motyčka Michal

Václav Cígler and Michal Motyčka have taken parallel approaches that reflect and refract their individual, artistic aspirations. Václav began his studies at the Secondary and Apprentice Glass School in Nový Bor before continuing his training at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in 1951. On the other hand, Michal began his studies at the Faculty of Architecture Czech Technical University before continuing his training at the Glass Studio in Architecture, which was taught by Marian Karel, at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in 1995. While Cígler and Motyčkaboth began their artistic training at different times, their similar passions for contemporary art, design, and architecture facilitated the start of their collaborative projects in 1999. Cígler Václav‘s works are most recognizable by his use of glass optics to manipulate the surroundings of his pieces. He employs light, water and shape to fabricate a new reality. A glimpse through one of Václav‘s glass works exhibits his mastery of optical glass to curve its surrounding environment, distorting nature‘s original state. Václav's use of staggered glass creates additional idiosyncratic images of the same environment, as each panel refracts a different angle of its surroundings. Vaclav’s glassworks are intended to provide a commentary on man’s relation to their urban and natural environment, encouraging viewers to find serenity and harmony within our shared landscapes. The Czech artists' seemingly insurmountable use of glass optics has breached the international contemporary art industry and crafted a fresh mode of artistic expression.