Direction to the Stars

The second year of the Direction to the Stars exhibition introduces another three promising young artists, all successfully continuing their work after having graduated from university. The event is part of the International Triennial of Glass and Jewellery, whose ambition it is to present contemporary glass to the general public as a material that can be used in many ways, one being artistic expression.

This time it was the turn of Dominika Petrtýlová (born 1995), Johan Pertl (born 1991), and Vlastimil Šenkýř (born 1990), graduates of the glass studio at the Prague Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design headed by prof. ak. soch. Rony Plesl and assistant Mg.A. Klára Horáčková. All three have regularly won prizes for their work in design competitions.

However, simply having studied together was most certainly not a criterion used by the curators when making their choice, that instead being the diversity and variability of the approaches they take to contemporary glass. Although Petrtýlová, Šenkýř, and Pertl did attend the same glass studio, their signatures differ quite significantly. They experiment, and consistently use their own particular know-how and skills when it comes to craft and technology. What they have done is transform their experience into a distinctive artistic expression, enriching the broad spectrum of Czech art glassmaking with further remarkable shades.

Dagmar Havlíčková – Petr Nový

Dominika Petrtýlová

www.dominikapetrtylova.com

An artist who effortlessly switches between design and art design, overlapping into fine art. Her primary artefact is the vase, but she is far more than just that. She favours colour, often highly distinctive, while her shapes and decors take inspiration from the bountiful history of Czech glass, both off-hand and, above all, hand-painted glass, because she is herself a master of this craft. Contrasts, the art of narrative shortcuts, and distinctive points are all aspects she calls her own, and she has the ability to transfer her ideas to the material in such a way that her pieces do not silently decorate an interior, but communicate in full voice.

Czech Design Week 2017 – winner in the Discovery of the Year category

Czech Design Week 2018 – winner in the Best Installation category

Czech Grand Design 2020 – finalist in the Discovery of the Year category

ELLE Decoration International Awards 2020 – winner in the Young Talent category

Diploma Selection – Designblok 2021 – chosen among the top 15 finalists for the selection of diploma theses

Johan Pertl

www.johanpertl.com

Even during his studies, John Pertl inclined towards the creation of large artistic standalone pieces that combined cast glass with stone. These he soon followed up with interior pieces or site-specific installations founded on the tension between mass, structure, and surface. As a result of his own signature technique, Pertl is able to reduce the quantity of material used in glass production, and in turn the energy needed for the whole process and the environmental burden. His dominant subject is monumentality and the emotions it arouses, and he is fascinated by natural processes and the dynamics of construction and destruction.

EDIDA 2023 – Young Talent Award for the Utopia table collection

Czech Grand Design 2023 – Discovery of the Year (2nd place) for the Utopia and Monumentality collections

Diploma Selection 2023 – 2nd place for the Monumentality project

Czech Grand Design 2023 – nominated for Designer of the Year for Erosion, a set of glass and marble pieces

PULSE – nomination for the Erosion project.

Vlastimil Šenkýř

www.vlastimilsenkyr.com

An artist known for his broad portfolio, within which he shifts between material and artistic experiments and design: fantasy glass objects at one end of the spectrum, practical flower vases and geometric jewellery at the other. Šenkýř employs a variety of glassmaking techniques, gets actively involved in the process himself, and develops his own signature procedures. He experiments like an ancient alchemist, forever seeking out the balance between thought and matter. In addition to his expressive works, he can also create intimate pieces, both of these positions evoking feelings of fragility and transience.

Talent Award 2020 – award at the Schmuck international trade fair in Munich for his diploma project Lapis philosophorum

Designblok Awards 2022 – finalist for luminaires created in cooperation with Anna Jožová

Czech Design Award 2023 – special recognition for his Sugar Vases collection

RoPlastic Prize 2023 – finalist in the international competition