Vaclav Pozarek: Non oiseau

Vaclav Pozarek is a Czech artist who has been living in Switzerland since the late 1960s. His work finds its origin in concrete and minimalist art, two movements that developed as a counter-response to the lyricism of abstract art, calling for a purely plastic construction (form, surface, and colour) of the work with a great economy of means.  His production is highly varied, as can be seen in the choice of media used: primarily sculpture and drawing, but also collage, photography, exhibition scenography and book design. His research focuses on a unique synthesis of the principles of constructivism, concrete art and minimalism.

In his plastic work and installations, Pozarek seeks the interfaces between art and objects from everyday life, constantly questioning the forms of presenting art. If his vocabulary seems to belong to that of minimal sculpture, mainly through its rejection of the pedestal and the refusal of a simple imitation of the real, Vaclav Pozarek stands out however, for his frequent use of artisanal techniques in the realization of his works, as well as through their vernacular (Swiss-Made, 2019) and historical references. We can sense the presence of Marcel Duchamp and Bernini in the piece Wall Cut-Out, 1988, as well as André Malraux and his notion of the imaginary museum with the sculpture Four-D, 2015.

For his exhibition at the Galerie Mitterrand, Vaclav Pozarek presents a selection of six sculptures in wood, his preferred material. These sculptures are autonomous and without any real function, although they suggest the opposite at first glance. The two mural works Untitled, 2020 and Half-Open, 2002, can in fact be situated at this crossroads between abstract sculpture and functional object. Very Open with Neon, 2015, is also the fruit of this formal and functional analysis of everyday objects, between artisanal and industrial fabrication, which the artist has developed over the years. Vaclav Pozarek, a former student of cinema, considers his works as actors in need of direction and guidance: they find their function when they come together.

His graphic works, such as the ensemble Untitled, figures with pipes, 1995-2008, underline his interest in typography and architecture, evoking blueprints and ornamental features found on facades. They are conceived as series of plans and pure geometric forms.

Vaclav Pozarek was born in 1940 in Budweis, in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia). He now lives and works in Bern, Switzerland. In 2018, the MAMCO Geneva devoted a large retrospective to his work. Several of his pieces are housed in major public collections such as the Kunstmuseum in Berne and MoMA, New York.