Lot 178

Jan Wagner (1942 - 2005) SEMI-DETACHED HOUSE FOR INSECTS

Jan Wagner came from a family with a long tradition of stone masonry, sculpture (Josef Wagner) and architecture. In the sculptures and drawings of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wagner's work was mainly portrait and figurative sculpture in sandstone, Carrara marble and wood, often with the theme of manes, which he was inspired by František Tichý. In the 1970s and 1980s, Wagner's work was characterised by a transition from mechanical kinetic objects to electronic ones. He expanded the classical register of sculptural materials to include not only glass, plastic, electronic components, things from everyday life and nature, but also intangible substances such as light, colour, movement and sound effects. The objects thus began to act as microcosms in their own right, a fact that was reinforced by the artist's later turn towards an organic interdependence with the world of technology. Butterflies, midges or other insects are enclosed in transparent parts. By emphasizing nature, the sculptor sought to humanize the tension between man and machine. The work on offer is a second variation on the composition of the same name, which he created in 1976. Electrified.