Volume of a Soul | Sculpture Collection of the Olomouc Museum of Art

PRESS RELEASE | JUNE 22, 2023

EXHIBITION: Volume of the Soul | Sculpture Collection of the Olomouc Museum of Art
PLACE: Museum of Modern Art, Nave
TERM: JUN 22, 2023 - JAN 14, 2024
OPENING: JUN 22, 2023 at 18:30
CONCEPT: Olga Š. Staníková
CURATORS: Michal Soukup, Olga Š. Staníková; permanent exhibition – Štěpánka Bieleszová, Ladislav Daněk
AUTHORS: Martina Bezoušková, Olga Š. Staníková, Helena Zápalková
EXHIBITION DESIGN: Petr Bureš and Jan Skoček – Amulet; Michal Soukup
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Petr Šmalec
EXHIBITION FUNDUS: Xella CZ (Ytong) – Martin Nešpor
TRANSLATION: Zuzana Henešová

Under the Auspices of Martin Baxa, Minister of Culture of Czech Republic

Download photographs and descriptions HERE

The sculpture collection belongs to the basic collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art. Its character is closely linked to the history of the institution and thus tells us not only about the changes in approaches and views on sculpture over time, but also about the collecting activities and priorities of the museum influenced and limited by the times.

The title and concept of the exhibition, which continues the long-standing cycle of presenting the museum‘s collections, are built on the link between object-subject relations. The volume speaks of one of the spatial characteristics of the sculpture, which we perceive as a physical quantity, while the soul, with its immaterial and ephemeral  ature, brings to light what the work essentially shapes from within. Although it cannot be seen or measured, the work could not have been created without it.

The seven sections into which the sculptures in the exhibition are divided cover the characteristic features of sculptural works, mirror various tendencies and trends in art, or tell us about the individual creative efforts of the artists. Finally, the inherent power of the chosen means of expression also comes into play. In an impressive intervention effort, a dialogue between works from different time periods is thus opened up. In the individual categories, we can trace the transformation of sculpture from the traditional paradigm of the human figure to the autonomous abstract object to the spatial installation. The selection of exhibits, in line with the focus of the collection, is based mainly on 20th century sculptures, but these are always complemented within each section by a specifically selected exhibit from the collection of early art.

Unexpected encounters or  urprising connections confirm the variety of views that result from the interaction of different themes, materials and shapes. The insertion of the exhibits into the space of the exhibition, which is not primarily chronologically conceived, then activates the viewer to the possibility of new thinking even about the works represented in the museum‘s permanent exhibition.