Church of St. Lawrence in Klatovy
17. 7. – 30. 10. 2011

South Bohemian sculptor Michal Trpák was born nearly thirty years ago in České Budějovice. He studied stone sculpture at secondary school of applied art under academic sculptor S. Zadražil. His subsequent art education took him to the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, where he studied under academic sculptor J. Beránek. He graduated in 2007.   

Trpák creates all his works at his south Bohemian studio or while on study visits, at symposia, or on internships. In 2000, he worked in Seoul and Kyongju in South Korea, and in 2001 in Hořice v Podkrkonoších. In 2004, he spent a two-year internship at the Taideinstituutti in Lahti, Finland, and later he was at the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver, Canada.                   

Trpák’s “Humanoids” are cement people hurrying with great determination, most likely to work. Exhibited in the bowels of the giant, impersonal Palladium shopping mall in Prague or in České Budějovice’s pedestrian zone, they cannot be overlooked, even if for the random passer-by they are just one of Trpak’s typical sculptural ensembles.

In addition to working on his art, Trpák’s wide range of activities includes organizing various outdoor sculptural presentations where he introduces his works and those of his fellow sculptors. Perhaps the best known of these projects is the sculptural installation in the main square in České Budějovice and in other parts of the city center. Works that have seen the light of day as part of this project include Myslitelé (Thinkers), a group of figures sitting on tall chairs in front of town hall, and at the most recent, fourth, such exhibition, Muška jenom zlatá (But A Golden Fly), which was installed on a church tower. Because the works by Michal Trpák and other artists cannot be ignored, they address the viewer directly on the street.

The exhibition “Dialogues of Microcosms” has been designed especially for the exhibition spaces of the Church of St. Lawrence in Klatovy in the second half of the exhibition season. Trpák’s sculptures will fill the church’s interior and will also be exhibited outside the church in its immediate vicinity.

 Helena Fenclová