Borek Sípek: Design Nomad:
Contrasts Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of “Borek Sípek: Design Nomad,” at the Shanghai Art Museum on show from May 13 to June 8, 2006. The exhibition is the first in China devoted to the career and work of this celebrated Czech artist, designer, and architect, who is one of today’s most influential European artists.
“Borek Sípek: Design Nomad” brings together over eighty objects from the past twenty years of Sípek’s career, including new pieces that have been created expressly for this exhibition. The artist, who is based in Prague, Czech Republic, considers all artistic expressions, including sculpture, glass design, architecture, and furniture design, to be equally important creative endeavours. Consequently, his studio in the Czech Republic produces silverware, ceramic dishes, furniture, interior decoration schemes, architectural plans, and, perhaps most famously, “bohemian” glass objects made from local Czech (e.g. “Bohemian”) glass.
Sípek’s work is best described as an example of post-modern irreverence that favours a mix of streamlined simplicity with over-the-top ornament: in his own words, he is an exponent of the “neo-baroque” style and the combination of unexpected forms. His beautiful glass “Kopecky Bowl” (2002), on view in the exhibition, is a typical Sípek piece. The work has a swirling clear glass “basket” from which four amber brown handles drip, echoing the smooth shape of the amber brown glass stand on which the entire creation stands.
Such lush and exuberant forms are Sípek’s norm, not the exception, and the imaginative play with materials and form extends to all areas of his studio practice, such as his furniture designs. With his “Motyl” Chair (1998), Sípek has created almost a parody of the standard leather armchair, creating inflated and stylized arms and an extra-broad seat which rest on diminutive pointed legs that hardly seem capable of support.
The way in which Sípek is able to transform ordinary objects such as bowls, vases, chairs and tables into objects of beauty and imagination is extraordinary and inspiring, as is the way in which Sípek incorporates aspects from many different cultures into his work. His extensive travels have introduced Chinese, African, Thai, and Japanese elements into his design repertoire, making Sípek into a universal designer without boundaries or limits.
Contrasts Gallery has organized “Borek Sípek: Design Nomad” at the Shanghai Art Museum with the hope that the exhibition will expose as many people as possible to this artist’s work. For more information, please call Tina Sima at Contrasts Gallery, (8621) 6474 1216 or visit www.contrastsgallery.com.
The Shanghai Art Museum is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily (last entrance at 4 pm) and is located at 325 W. Nanjing Road, Shanghai.
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