Lot 221

Ivo Medek Kopaninský (1936) A ROBOT OSSUARY

Ivo Medek Kopaninský's work presents a wide scope, including collages, paintings, drawings, assemblages, sculptures, stamp-art and various other combined techniques to achieve an artistic impression, often imbued with a good dose of irony and humor. Like the human ossuary, the work Robot Ossuary has a certain reverential character and is a variation on the theme of vanitas. The robotic "memento mori" refers to a possible impact on technical progress and the acceleration of the time when the old gives way to the new. It is then possible to arrange the number of remains into the ossulas of robots, similar to the remains of human remains after the plague, battles or epidemics. Ivo Medek Kopaninský, a focus mostly thematically opposed to the then ruling communist ideology, did not exhibit in his homeland for twenty years (1968–1988). He was persecuted by the state secret police for smuggling them into democratic countries and exhibited them there. Today, he has won several prestigious awards, such as the Masaryk Academy of Arts Award.