luboš plný
in materia delicata
The Latin title Materia delicata may be translated as ‘delicate’, ‘sensitive’ or ‘fragile matter’. This multiplicity of meanings precisely captures the essence of Plný’s practice. The material of his works is drawn from what is most vulnerable and, at the same time, most fundamental to us—our own corporeality, memory, everyday experience, transience and human identity.
For Luboš Plný, drawing is a means of exploration and understanding. It serves not merely to depict reality, but becomes a way of examining it. Anatomical studies, diary entries, texts, numbers and stamps form a visual system in which every element has its own place and significance. Collage plays an equally important role, bringing together drawing, photography, anatomical illustrations and handwritten notes to create new constellations of meaning.
The other works on display likewise reveal how Plný transforms personal experience into a visual language that can be universally understood. Anatomy, corporeality and everyday rituals are not ends in themselves in his work. Rather, they serve as means of reflecting on human identity, mortality and the relationship between body and consciousness.
Luboš Plný whose international recognition was confirmed by his selection in the 57th Venice Biennale titled Viva Arte Viva (curated by Christine Macel) in 2017, is the first art brut artist acquired by the MNAM in 2013. He has enjoyed numerous institutional exhibitions in recent years which include exhibitions at contemporary art museums in Kobe and Hiroshima, Japan, at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, at the Kunsthalle in Dresden, and in his hometown of Prague. In 2017, the Dox Art Center dedicated a solo exhibition to him, and in 2022, the Rudolfinum facilitated a dialogue between him and artists such as Louise Bourgeois and William Kentridge. In September 2023, we dedicated a solo show to him in our two spaces, a monography and a performance at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.