Collateral, Venice
Rony Plesl
Trees Grow from the Sky / Gli alberi crescono dal cielo
Chiesa di Santa Maria della VisitazioneRony Plesl ranks among the world’s top artists in the field of glass sculpture. His unique oeuvre emerges from his deep knowledge of quality glassmaking and from his profound love for the ambiguous matter of glass. Fascinated by its constant metamorphosis, he seeks the natural form of glass in his art while employing groundbreaking technologies in his designs. His Venice installation is a world premiere of Vitrum Vivum, a globally unique glass casting technology allowing the creation of glass sculptures without any limitations. The artist chose the church of Santa Maria della Visitazione for his installation, merging the sublime character of glass sculpture with the purity of the Early Renaissance space. His work addresses the essence of human existence, navigating us as we seek our path in the world of today. The constellation of three vertical trees in the middle of the nave alludes to the Franciscan thesis of complementarity of nature and man while suggesting an imaginary representation of the human body. The larger-than-life pure crystal trunks are a true imprint of live trees. The perfection of their bark is accentuated by the haptic character of the material while their luminous and translucent surface invites us to look inside, encouraging interpretation: an imaginary journey through a landscape, an exploration of the true essence of things. The last tree on the symbolical journey lies deeper in the church, like a horizontal line intersecting the landscape. Its bark consists of human figures, as the entire trunk is covered by a bas-relief of the bodies of Jesus Christ. In a dreamy, surreal scene, the epic object made of shiny emerald uranium glass is reminiscent of ancient column reliefs. Its natural form merged with the multiplied bodies of the Son of God feels existential in terms of human history. Essential questions of human existence seem to shine through the walls of the glass monoliths. The installation induces a pure moment of stillness that is becoming increasingly rare today. Through contemplation and introspection, it gives us a genuine and courageous insight into ourselves. This is what the artist sought to create, guiding us towards repose with full mental freedom. —Lucie Drdova, curator Rony Plesl (b. 1965, lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic) ranks among top internationally acknowledged artists in the field of glass sculpture. His unique oeuvre emerges from his deep knowledge of quality glassmaking and the technologies he employs in his original designs and primarily in his artistic work. In collaboration with glass professionals, he shifts the perspectives of the possible in the medium of glass both for contemporary art and for his own body of work. Rony Plesl is a leading Czech artist, sculptor, designer, and professor. Plesl’s work is strongly solitary both in the field of visual arts and in the field of design. Rather than challenging current trends, he has followed impulses from various disciplines throughout his life. Plesl explores the possibilities of glass sculpture, deliberately approaching it as a distinctive medium. He respects the work of his predecessors – Professor Libensky and others, who founded this relatively young discipline in the Czech Republic – while also respecting the history of the craft. Lucie Drdova is a Prague-based art historian, gallerist, author, and lecturer. She combines her academic expertise (Department of Art History at Masaryk University in Brno and University of Applied Arts in Vienna) and professional experience from European exhibition institutions (Museum of Modern Arts in Vienna and Academy of Fine Arts in Prague) to curate contemporary art and promote the contemporary art scene.