Heavy Weights

Rony Plesl (*1965, lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic) ranks among top internationally acknowledged artists in the field of glass sculpture. His unique oeuvre emerges from his deep knowledge of quality glassmaking and the technologies he employs in his original designs and primarily in his artistic work. In collaboration with glass professionals, he shifts the perspectives of the possible in the medium of glass both for contemporary art and for his own body of work. Milan Knížák was born on 19 April 1940 in Pilsen. He lived with his parents in Blovice, where his father, Karel Knížák, worked at the burgher school. In 1945 Karel Knížák went to teach in Mariánské Lázně, where Milan Knížák started to go to school. From 1990 to 1997 he was the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he headed the Studio of Intermedia Art from 1990 to 2015. From 1999 to 2011 he was the Director General of the National Gallery in Prague. He has organized more than 100 solo exhibitions and participated in hundreds of joint exhibitions almost all over the world. He has published dozens of books and catalogues and several music CDs. His works are represented in many domestic and international collections, e.g.: the Memorial of National Literature, Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic; Stadtgalerie Stuttgart, Germany; Museum Sprengel, Hannover, Germany; Silverman's collection, Michigan, USA Neuberger Museum, N.Y., USA.