Peter Oriešek (28 August 1941 – 18 October 2015) was a Czech sculptor, medallist, painter and teacher at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Prague The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (; AVU) is an art college in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1799, it is the oldest art college in the country. The school offers twelve master's degree programs and one doctoral program. History Starting ...

Life

Peter Oriešek was born on 28 August 1941 in

Dolná Súča Dolná Súča ( ) is a village and municipality in Trenčín District in the Trenčín Region of north-western Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1208. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of ...

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

. He studied at the Secondary School of Art Industry in Bratislava (prof. Ľudovít Korkoš) and in 1960–1966 at the Academy of Arts and Crafts in Prague, in the sculpture studios of prof. Jan Kavan and Josef Malejovský.Neumann I, Peter Oriešek: Crushing Factuality, 1999 After graduation he was a freelance sculptor. He exhibited independently for the first time in 1969 and then only since the late 1980s. The sculptural and drawing work of Peter Oriešek brought a completely new and unique perspective to the Czech art scene.Neumann I, 1991 His original artistic expression, which very sharply interprets the situation of man in the middle of the world, has its origin in the unfavourable social atmosphere in the country occupied for twenty years by Soviet troops. The "cruelty of truth" is not an art for its own sake in his works, but restores the form to its original and, in the historical context, legitimate sense of making it present, visible and objectified. It expresses sensibility, existential anxiety and the irrational situation of life.Tetiva V, The Cruelty of Truth in the Work of Peter Oriesek, 1998 Since 1995, he has been a teacher at the

, and since 1999 also at the VŠUP. He was a member of the ''Association of Medal Artists'', a founding member of the groups ''Tolerance'' and ''Lipany'' (1989), member of the

Mánes Union of Fine Arts The Mánes Association of Fine Artists ( or ''S.V.U.''; commonly abbreviated as ''Manes'') was an artists' association and exhibition society founded in 1887 in Prague and named after painter Josef Mánes. The Manes was significant for its in ...

(1990) and the civic association ''Figurama'' (2001). He died in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on 18 October 2015. His wife Petra Oriešková was a prominent Czech academic painter.

Work

Sculpture

Peter Oriešek graduated at a time when the domestic scene was moving away from abstract art and a space was opening up for brilliant draughtsmen who were absorbing the impulses of Pop Art, Hyperrealism, and especially the broad current of New Figuration associated with a renewed interest in physicality. In his early sculptural works, expressive exaggeration is evident (''Male Figure'', 1965, ''Dead Horse'', 1970s), but in his later work, despite the harshness of his expression, he adheres to realistic modelling. The sheer materiality of the human and animal figures, more vital than the actual cast body, is often obscured by a fanciful polychromy (''Figure'', 164 cm, 1969). The sculptures, cast in transparent artificial resin, offer an insight into the interior with an expressive colour confusion of viscera (''Figure'', h. 166 cm, 1968, ''Pillow'', 1968–1969, ''Birth'', 1969). The existential theme of disgust, which has undergone the alienating lessons of pop art, is pushed to an ironic position in these sculptures. His major works from the early 1970s are several variants of ''Anatomy of Silence'' (1970, GASK collection),Peter Kováč, review of GASK Modern Art Exposition, 2014
/ref> created as polychromed assemblages of biomorphic abstract shapes in artificial resin, on a panel with a woman's head. In the early 1970s, inspired by a trip to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, he created sculptural compositions loosely referencing

Minoan culture The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

and the mythical

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

. However, the way in which Oriešek recalls the Greek mythical perception of the world, embedded in the foundations of European civilization, points to the ways in which this tradition was carried over during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Mannerism Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

. Apart from ancient sculpture, his major influences were

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Giambologna Giambologna (1529 – 13 August 1608), also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small ...

and

Adrian de Vries Adriaen de Vries (c.1556–1626) was a Northern Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands but working in Central Europe, whose international style crossed the threshold to the Baroque; he excelled in refined modelling and bronze casting and ...

. The main core of his work, however, are sculptures that come from the world of inner imagination and dream visions. Like some of

Karel Pauzer Karel Pauzer (born 4 December 1936) is a Czech sculptor, ceramist, painter, printmaker and restorer. Life Pauzer was born in Prague in 1936. From his early youth he was interested in nature, and during holidays in the countryside he drew and mo ...

's sculptures, Oriešek's phantasmatic creatures are metaphorical representations of the animal nature of man (''Animals'', 1987–89). Bodies with taut musculature are replete with physiological processes beneath a shockingly naked surface. The animal figures inspire terror with their exaltation and recall the deceptive mutability of a world dominated by aggression, anger, psychological coercion and helpless defiance. Oriešek's scenes of passion and destruction draw the viewer in with their narrativity, depicting stories that resemble dreamlike images. The author intended them to express his incipient alienation from his surroundings and the absurdity of an existentialist conception of existence or an anxiety fed by inner despondency. (''Anatomy of Silence'', 1970, GASK) The sculptures are modelled with attention to detail, the combination of human and animal figures expressing emotions, fear or violence are captured in dynamic positions. The tension is also contained in the contrast of the realistic modelling of the figure in a tense pose with surfaces containing static relief or with elements symbolizing death and decay (''Extinction'', 1979–1985). If the sculptor's main intention is to express dynamism, the sculpture is conceived as an unfolding of the movement phases of a single figure walking down the stairs, whose arms rise at the end to meet the coming hope (''Journey towards Light'', 1992). The sculptures were primarily intended to be cast in bronze or resin, but some chamber works remained as models in their original material – a mixture of beeswax, asphalt and rosin – and are polychromed. The ceramic works were created in collaboration with Jindra Viková (''Fountain'', Atrium Žižkov, ''Figural Relief'' for the metro station (unrealised). Peter Oriešek was also involved in medallicMoravian Gallery in Brno: Peter Oriešek
/ref> and relief work, which was also published as a blind print (''Faust'', 1987), (''Adam and Eve'', 1988). Peter Oriešek, Mužská postava (kolem 1965).jpg, Male Figure (circa 1965) Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu, nedatováno, bronzový reliéf 38x37 cm.jpg, Untitled, undated, bronze relief 38x37 cm Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu- Polštářek (1968-1969).jpg, Untitled- Pillow (1968–1969) Peter Oriešek, Ležící (Zrození) (1969) III.jpg, Lying (Birth) (1969) Peter Oriešek, Mrtvý kůň (70. léta).jpg, Dead horse (1970s) Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu II.jpg, Untitled Peter Oriešek, Netvor (kolem 1985).jpg, Monster (circa 1985) Peter Oriešek, Léda s labutí (1990).jpg, Leda and the Swan (1990) Peter Oriešek, Kybelé (1991).jpg, Kybelé (1991) Peter Oriešek, Zvíře (po 2000).jpg, Animal (after 2000)

Drawing and painting

The turn to drawing coincided with Oriešek's reflections on multi-figure sculptural compositions, but from the late 1970s and 1980s onwards, drawings became an entirely distinctive part of his work and, like his sculptures, depict a limit situation in life. Oriešek's drawings combine pure classicism and barbaric magic in a technically brilliant way and suggestively illustrate how close beauty and evil are to each other. They depict with extraordinary precision interpersonal relationships as epic-fantasy scenes. He later replaced the delicate and detailed modelling of hatched pencil drawings with the

airbrush An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint, but also ink, dye, and make-up. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History Up unt ...

technique. The hyperbolic bizarreness of his drawing compositions has a direct counterpart in some of his sculptures. The expressive conception, sculptural drawing of nude figures and dramatic scenes full of emotion and passion are also characteristic of the compositions of the large-scale images that Oriešek paints with American retouch (

). The mastery of this technique allows the painter to create a perfect illusion of deep space or mirroring, the sepia colour evoking old drawings. All the paintings are filled with hidden meanings. The female bodies are formally perfectly beautiful and sensual even in tense conflict scenes, while the male and animal figures look like anatomical studies by a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

painter. Human and animal are intertwined with each other into one chimerical body, massive muscles and tendons are bared, veins filled to bursting, parts of their own skeletons protrude from the figures like a

memento mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")

. The fantasy world of the painter's imagination is brought into the real space of the sculptor's studio. In contrast to the hyperrealistic figures, elements of sculptural instrumentation are composed into the painting, such as plinths, columns, sculptural reinforcements and supports replacing parts of the bodies, or strange mushroom-like formations, balls of cords or tubes, reminding us that our technical civilization is part of this world. Peter Oriešek is one of the leading representatives of the current generation of Czech modern painting and sculpture, which through new figuration reveals the inner complexity of man with his anxieties and frozen aggressiveness, while following the traditions of illusionistic painting. According to Ivan Neumann, Oriešek has chosen artistic means that are traditional in appearance and that show an awareness of necessary continuity. The matter-of-factness, that is, the reality of his form, is overwhelming. Not, however, for the drama of the story, which moves, or for the drawing of line or form, which astonishes with certainty, but rather for the mystery and enigma of the emerging, seemingly self-evident shapes, the things of the world, which he both shows and hides. Occasionally, he has worked on illustrations (''Landing on Říp'', 1988). In 2013, stamps and the cover of the first day's edition were published with drawings by Peter Oriek. Bez názvu VIII, 1995 - 1997, sepie, americká retuš, akryl na papíře a dřevě, 85x125 cm.jpg, alt= Bez názvu VIII, 1995 - 1997, sepie, americká retuš, akryl na papíře a dřevě, 85x125 cm, Untitled VIII, 1995–1997, sepia, airbrush, acrylic on paper and wood, 85 x 125 cm Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu X, nedatováno, americká retuš, 121x120 cm.jpg, Untitled X, undated, airbrush, 121 x 120 cm Bez názvu, 1995 - 1997, sepie, americká retuš. akryl, na papíře a dřevě, 120 x 120 cm.jpg, Untitled, 1995–1997, sepia, airbrush, acrylic on paper and wood, 120 x 120 cm Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu I, nedatováno, americká retuš, 100x123 cm (2).jpg, Untitled I, undated, airbrush, 100 x 123 cm Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu XI, nedatováno, americká retuš, 119x120 cm.jpg, Untitled XI, undated, airbrush, 119 x 120 cm Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu, airbrush (kolem 1995) II.jpg, Untitled, airbrush (circa 1995) Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu, airbrush (kolem 1995) III.jpg, Untitled, airbrush (circa 1995) Peter Oriešek, Bez názvu, airbrush (kolem 1995) IV.jpg, Untitled, airbrush (circa 1995)

Realisations

Peter Oriešek is the author of several figurative sculptures in public space as well as important

memorial plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

s. The plaque with the slogan ''When - if not now?, Who - if not us?, 17 November 1989'' was unveiled on 16 November 2006 at Albertov, from where a procession of students marched on 17 November 1989, marking the beginning of the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

. A plaque with a bust of

Václav Benda Václav Benda (August 8, 1946, Prague – June 2, 1999) was a Czech Roman Catholic activist and intellectual, and mathematician. Under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, Benda and his wife were rare in that they were devout Roman Catholics among th ...

is installed on the house where the dissident Benda family lived. * ''Ceramic mosaic on the rear facade of the Old Town Hall'' (Jindra Viková, Peter Oriešek, 1975) * ''Mother and Child (1982)'', artificial stone, Prague-Strašnice * ''Photographer and Model'' (1995), Central Military Hospital, Prague * ''Girl with a Cage'' (1989), bronze, Fountain in the Park of the Na Homolce Hospital, 1991 * ''Bust of Václav Benda'', Charles Square in Prague Peter Oriešek, Jindra Viková, keramický obraz, Staroměstská radnice v Praze.jpg, Peter Oriešek, Jindra Viková, ''ceramic picture'', 1975, Old Town Hall in Prague Peter-Oriešek,-Matka-s-dítětem,-umělý-kámen,-Praha.jpg, ''Mother with child'', 1982, artificial stone, Prague-Strašnice Socha dívky s klecí v parku za kongresovým centrem nemocnice Na Homolce (Q64815549) 02.jpg, ''Sculpture of a girl with a cage'' (1989), park behind the congress centre of the Na Homolce hospital, Prague Peter Oriešek, Fotograf a model (3).jpg, ''Photographer and model'', 1995, bronze, Central Military Hospital Prague Václav Benda - pamětní deska.jpg, ''

'' – memorial plaque

Representation in collections

National Gallery Prague The National Gallery Prague (, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Czech and international fine a ...

* Slovak National Gallery Bratislava *

Moravian Gallery in Brno The Moravian Gallery in Brno () is the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic, established in 1961 by the merging of two older institutions. It is in five buildings: Pražák Palace, Governor's Palace, Museum of Applied Arts, Jurkovič ...

* Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region (GASK), Kutná Hora * Aleš South Bohemian Gallery, Hluboká nad Vltavou * Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb * Gallery Klatovy/Klenová * Museum of Art OlomoucMUO, Sculpture Algorithm , Sculptural drawings, sketches and models, 2023
/ref> * Slovácké muzeum Uherské Hradiště

References

Sources

Author catalogues

* Peter Oriešek, Petra Oriešková, Galerie mladých (U Řečických) / Gallery of Youth (U Řečických), Prague 1969 * Peter Oriešek: Kresby / Drawings, House of Culture ROH, České Budějovice, AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou (text H. Rulíšek) 1986 * Petra Oriešková, Peter Oriešek, kresby, plastiky / drawings, sculptures, text by Simeona Hošková, Graphic Cabinet Olomouc 1989 * Petra Oriešková: obrazy, Peter Oriešek: plastiky / Petra Oriešková: paintings, Peter Oriešek: sculptures, text I. Neumann, Bratislava, Povážska Galéria, Žilina 1991 * Peter Oriešek: Kresby / Drawings, Galerie Litera, text by I. Neumann, Prague 1992 * Peter Oriešek: Hřích a trest / Sin and Punishment, Galerie Litera, Prague 1994 * Peter Oriešek: Krutost pravdy / The Cruelty of Truth, text by Vlastimil Tetiva, Věra Procházková Foundation, Strakonice 1998 * Peter Oriešek: Zdrcující věcnost, text Ivan Neumann, Městské muzeum a galerie, Hranice 1999 * Soma Sema (Peter Oriešek, Kryštof Hošek), text Ivan Neumann, 88 s., Museum Kampa – Nadace Jana a Medy Mládkových, Praha 2021, ISBN 978-80-270-9706-7

Collective catalogues and publications (selection)

* Holub Karel, Mladí čeští sochaři / Young Czech Sculptors, Odeon Prague, 1978 * Konečný Dušan, Umění a doba / Art and Time, Odeon Prague, 1980 * Hošková Vomočilová Simeona, Mladá kresba / Young Drawing, Odeon Prague, 1984 * Jiří Kotalík, Volné sdružení "Tolerance" / Free Association "Tolerance", Art Jan Bernat, 1989 * Jiří Sozanský, Proti zdi / Against the Wall, with the support of Litera Gallery, Prague, 1991 * Barok a dnešek / Baroque and Today, Symposion 1994 * Tetiva Vlastimil, Podoby fantaskna v českém výtvarném umění 20. století / Images of the Fantastic in Czech 20th Century Art, cat. 94 p., Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou 1998 * Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze / Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, almanach 70 s., KANT publishing, Praha 2004 * Tetiva Vlastimil, České umění XX. století: 1970–2007 / Czech Art of the XXth Century: 1970–2007, cat. 326 p., Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou 2007 * Hološka Ľ a kol., Figurama 09, cat. 528 p., Typos, printing works, a.s., Plzeň 2009

External links

abART Information System: Peter Oriešek

Navrátil Gallery: Peter Oriešek

International Medallists Symposium in Uherské Hradiště 1992: Peter Oriešek

Vetřelci a volavky: Peter Oriešek

Figurama: Peter Oriešek

* ttps://livebid.cz/en/author/11961 Livebid: Peter Oriešek {{DEFAULTSORT:Oriesek Peter 1941 births 2015 deaths People from Trenčín District Czech sculptors Czech painters Czech educators Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague