"The painter no longer approaches the easel with an image
in mind, but approaches it with the color-matter, with the intent of transforming
that other matter, the canvas, that was in front of him."
Harold Rosenberg
poet - educator - philosopher- art critic
Caterina Tognon
Vladimir Kopecký - Not a Picture but an Event
For his first solo exhibition in Italy at the Caterina Tognon gallery, Vladimír Kopecký – Not a Picture but an Event - until November 23 - the 91-year-old Czechoslovakian artist showcases sixteen glass works painted with vitreous enamel. These pieces were blown in Murano at the Anfora furnace by Maestro Andrea Zilio. Each work is unique, highlighting Kopecký's vitality, spirit, and dedication to his craft. Known for making experimentation with glass and painting the centerpiece of his artistic journey, Kopecký's latest creations are a testament to his lifelong commitment to pushing boundaries in both mediums.
The Murano glass objects here extend Kopecký’s early 1960s experiments improvising with paint and etching on glass sheets, his 1970s assembled paintings that incorporate industrial and found materials, and his 1990s performative installations generated in the theatre of the glass foundry.
"This exhibition is a testament to the vitality, spirit, and dedication of Vladimír Kopecký, who has been experimenting with materials, form, scale, and colour throughout his art life."
Caterina Tognon
The works on display are large in size and have great chromatic energy. The actions that Kopecký performs, with vitreous enamels, on their smooth and shiny surfaces, are guided by the imperfections of the bubbles - resulting from the blowing process - and the intense colors of the Murano glass. Venetian blown glass and Bohemian vitreous enamel: an art form dating back to the Roman Empire that Kopecký, an extraordinary performer masterfully interprets.
The title of the exhibition - Not a picture but an event - was first coined by Harold Rosenberg in his 1952 essay, The American Action Painters, to argue that art cannot be separated from the artist's life. That every splash, dip or spray of paint, every mark made, is a choice.
Vladimir Kopecký
Not a Picture but an Event