David Černý, the controversial Czech sculptor

Hi everybody,

in the description of my blog, when I wrote that I will present you artists who like to provoke, I was thinking about David Černý. It is my favorite Czech artist.

Let's speak a bit about him.
David Černý was born in Prague in 1967. He is a sculptor whose works can be seen in many locations in Prague. His works tend to be controversial. He gained notoriety in 1991 by painting a Soviet tank pink that served as a war memorial in central Prague. He gained notoriety in 1991 by painting a Soviet tank pink that served as a war memorial in central Prague.In 2005, Černý created Shark, an image of Saddam Hussein in a tank of formaldehyde. The work was presented at the Prague Biennale 2 that same year. His Entropa, created to mark the Czech presidency of the European Union Council during the first semester of 2009, attracted controversy both for its stereotyped depictions of the various EU member states, and because it turned out to have been created by Černý and two friends rather than, as promised, being a collaboration between artists from each of the member states. Some EU members states reacted negatively to the depiction of their country. For instance, Bulgaria decided to summon the Czech Ambassador to Sofia in order to discuss the illustration of the Balkan country as a collection of squat toilets.

You can find Entropa exhibiting at DOX - Center for Contemporary Art in Prague until January 4, 2010.

You can visit his oficial website here.
The website is in Czech but you have English version.

If you want, you can also support him and join his group on facebook here.