Category: sculpture

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A couple of interesting bits of Iceland

I’m still unpacking from our trip to Iceland and haven’t got any lettering worth showing yet, although I’m practicing. Meanwhile, here are a couple of interesting things we saw in Iceland.

Inscription over the entrance of the modern church Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik
Inscription over the entrance of the modern church Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik

Unusual sculpture, especially when found in a pizza joint in Reykjavik.
Unusual sculpture, especially when found in a pizza joint in Reykjavik.

I realize that as I calligrapher I’ve done the same thing to this Reyjkavik church that calligraphers have done to the Trajan column: I’ve focused on the inscription and completely ignored the actual edifice. Here’s the whole church:

Front view of the modern church Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik
Front view of the modern church Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik

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Sculpture in Prague

"Metalmorphosis" by David Černý. A moving portrait of Kafka, probably.
“Metalmorphosis” by David Černý. A moving portrait of Kafka, probably. Someone has posted a video here.
"Saint Wenceslas"
“Saint Wenceslas” by David Černý
"Slight Uncertainty" - Fiberglas sculpture by Michal Trpák
“Slight Uncertainty” – Fiberglas sculpture by Michal Trpák
Caught in a pissing match!
Caught in a pissing match! More David Černý.

We recently returned from a trip to the Czech Republic. Prague has so many interesting sculptures, especially pieces by David Černý, Prague’s bad-boy artist.

His “Metalmorphosis” is hypnotic. We stood and watched it for longer than I would have imagined. His “Saint Wenceslas” is a biting commentary on this sculpture by Josef Václav Myslbek in nearby Wenceslas Square.

We saw most of the sculptures listed in this article in the Prague Post. Unfortunately, I’ve lost a chunk of photos, or I’d include them here.

It would have been easy to miss Michal Trpák’s sculpture, “Slight Uncertainty”, hanging above a busy intersection, but our friend Jenny was there to make sure I didn’t. Thanks, Jenny!

I’ll save the modern galleries and medieval manuscripts for later posts.