David Cerny
The controversial Czech artist lets it all hang out
Words Julie O’Shea Photos Ondrej Nemec/Michael Heitmann
He arrives at his favourite Kampa Park haunt in Prague’s dainty Little Quarter, hangs his bike on the coat rack by the front door (yes, literally) and promptly orders a beer.
David Eerný, the eccentric Czech sculptor whose pieces routinely implode into controversy, has been difficult to pin down.
No one, it seemed, knew where he was. Not the project director of his artist-in-residency programme, The Meet Factory. Nor anyone at the city’s DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, which is showcasing his latest headline-grabbing work, Entropa, a large-scale installation designed to commemorate the Czech Republic’s historic EU presidency during the first half of 2009. Originally pitched as an ensemble piece by various artists from the 27 EU states, Entropa was actually something David concocted with a couple of his buddies to see if Europe could laugh at itself. But as it turned out, very few found the humour behind a piece depicting Bulgaria as a Turkish toilet, Romania as Dracula’s theme park and Germany as a mesh of roadways that curiously seem to take the form of a swastika.
David doesn’t want to talk about any of that now. In fact, he flat-out refuses to indulge in a discussion about art, muses or inspiration.
"I’d be happy to answer any question that someone hasn’t already asked me," he says, playfully tapping a waitress on her rear end as she passes. She turns and smiles at him, and David laughs.
"You can find all the answers you need on the internet," he helpfully adds.
What he really wants to talk about is flying. "This is an in-flight magazine, after all," he says. "That’s what people want to read about."
Does he fly? David waves his hand, dismissively: "I’ve got my own plane." And just like that, the whole starving artist stereotype goes flying out the window. Not only is he soaring professionally, but it would appear David is also determined to earn his wings in the sky, piloting his own craft, which he affectionately calls "Pussy," all over Europe.
"It’s like a metaphysical expression," he explains. "I think it compares almost to sex. I’d say 90%, but sex is better."
David is brash, unpredictable and very, very explicit, both in real life and in his work. He offers no apologies for who he is or what comes out of his mouth. He enjoys making people think, or, as he appropriately puts it, "pissing" them off. His list of targets is long – and unprintable. But it’s probably safe to say his days of producing outrageous art displays are far from over. While he won’t offer any hints about what he’s currently working on, there are plenty of David Eerný masterpieces to admire all over the Golden City, from the bizarre bronze babies climbing up the Zizkov Television Tower to the two men urinating in the fountain outside the Franz Kafka Museum. Of course, the piece that has everyone’s tongues wagging is Entropa, which at DOX, its first gallery stop after the grand unveiling in Brussels, has received an overwhelmingly positive reception.
The controversy over Entropa is "healthy," assures Leos Valka, the director of DOX. "People often express surprise over how interesting and really beautiful the piece actually is." www.davidcerny.cz
Entropa exhibition ends 4 January, 2010 . DOX Centre for Contemporary Art Poupetova 1, Prague 7, +420 224 93 0927
www.doxprague.org
"While he did pay for my cola, David only had 25 minutes to spare, admitting that had I worn a tank top, he’d have stayed longer!"
WIZZ writer Julie O’Shea
