Intervention #11: František Skála

The Church House

The Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem continues its collaboration with Jindřich Chalupecký Society. In 2016, the gallery exposition hosted an intervention by contemporary artist Jiří Černický, Jindřich Chalupecký Award holder from 1998, who comes from the Ústí nad Labem region where the gallery is located. In a similar vein, with respect to the territorial context, we approached Jindřich Chalupecký Award holder from 1991, distinctive sculptor and versatile artist František Skála. Although he was born in Prague, he has spent many years systematically creating his island of peace at a secluded place close to Louny in North-Western Bohemia.

This year’s intervention features the work The Church House from 2011. Consisting of three parts – a marlstone church, a rock made of rubble and a house made of thick mica sheet – communicates very well with the space of the baroque Lobkowicz Riding Hall. In the artwork, just like in the gallery’s interior, architecture meets light – a life-giving element which gives us the gift of vision – in a substantial, almost Neo-Platonic way. Thanks to daylight, entering the interior through the many lateral windows, the gallery space is formed and filled by an interesting play of light and shadow. Thanks to the thoughtful placement of František Skála’s sculpture next to Antonín Slavíček masterpiece Sun in the Forest, the object becomes interconnected both with the gallery building and with the gallery collection.