Glass as a means, goal and inspiration – art objects by Patrik Illo

Our museum has mounted an exhibition of glass art works by Slovak artist, designer and teacher Patrik Illo (*1973). Under the title Arterie, it features his free work in which he develops his original imagination, not shying away from exaggeration, contrast or humour.

Patrik Illo is undoubtedly the most outstanding personality in contemporary Slovak glassmaking. His numerous activities connect the world of art and design, as he is, among other things, the chief designer of the renowned RONA glassworks in Lednické Rovné and the head of the glass studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Over more than a quarter of a century in the field, he has had around 60 solo exhibitions in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Poland and Great Britain, has participated in more than 170 collective presentations in 23 countries around the world and has appeared at numerous international symposia. In addition, since 2010, he has curated nearly 60 exhibitions and symposia for other artists in Slovakia and abroad.

“Although Illo’s work is wide ranging in form from commercial design to art design to free art,” says Petr Nový, curator of the Jablonec exhibition, “three subject areas have long been intertwined in all aspects of his artistic activity – fluidity, interaction and kinetics. Illo’s work is motivated by the desire to uncover the ‘technology of creation’, to get to the bottom of how this process works.”

The exhibits and their installation have been tailored to the unique space in the glass museum extension, which was awarded the prestigious title of Building of the Year of the Czech Republic in 2020. “For the first time, we are also dedicating a separate space to a foreign artist who, in our opinion, is quite exceptional. Although Patrik Illo works and creates in a Czech-Slovak context, his artworks are different and clearly recognizable from our domestic work. Visitors will thus have the opportunity to become acquainted with a different approach to glass,” added Milada Valečková, the museum’s director. 

The exhibition will open with a Meet🙵Greet with the artist on Thursday 16 November at 5pm. It will be open until April 21, 2024.