MICHAEL KUCERA
at The Gallery, Mount Street

Exhibition Dates:
Monday 25 January to Wednesday 3 February
Venue:
The Gallery at Tim Flynn Architects, 99 Mount Street, London, W1K 2TF
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm

This is the first exhibition of Michael Kucera’s revealing new sculptural works. Completed during 2009, the pieces were created as a reaction to changes in Kucera’s family situation, when he had to look after his daughter at home and his wife became the main bread-winner. The change left Michael feeling disconnected from the outside world and like a prisoner in his own home.

Kucera has used striped resin 'fabric’; a constant theme is his work, seen here with the dramatic new addition of the figurative form. Kucera says: “After hiding behind the fabric for years, I re-emerge in my art by putting myself on center stage - trying to come out from my shell, but not without the protection of my striped fabrics ”.The simple, straight lines are brought to life by twisting and folding each piece into a resin sculpture, allowing the linear pattern to leap from its two dimensional space and play with the ever-changing surrounding light. This creates a work of art that, despite its solidity, gives an animated and captivating experience to the viewer as the dynamic shadows cast by each protruding shape evolve throughout the day. The subtle play of light evokes a feeling of intrigue which has been further heightened by the inclusion of the human form. This interaction is where the exciting and fantastic element is most evident; now more than ever, Kucera has found his very own language in which the viewer is engaged in an optical game of linear and three dimensional forms and patterns.

Michael lives and works in London. He studied at the Academy of Fine Art, Munich 1981 - 1985 and the Academy of Fine Art, Vienna 1993 - 1994. Whilst studying in Vienna he was trained by the controversial founder of psychoanalytical painting, Rudolf Hausner. Hausner was a key player in Surrealism during its peak around the time of the Second World War. Kucera has work in various private and corporate collections including The Connaught Mayfair, Coutts & Co. and Troika Dialog.