Aleš Veselý: Alešville (ENG)

This publication, released in conjunction with the eponymous exhibition, is the first comprehensive retrospective of a key figure of post-war Czech art, sculptor Aleš Veselý (1935-2015). Veselý was particularly known for his monumental public art instal-lotions, including sculptures such as Kaddish (now in Středokluky, 1967-1968), Magen David (National Cemetery in Terezín, 1995), and Brána nenávratna (The Gate of No Return, Prague-Bubny, 2015). His works can also be found abroad, such as in the German cities of Bochum and Hamm (1979 and 1980). In 1970, he acquired a space in a former mill in Středokluky near Prague, which became his unique sculpting studio. After the 1989 Velvet Revolution, he became a renowned professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. The exhibition and the publication trace the different stages of Aleš Veselý's life and art. His work is presented along with a rich collection of archival material, and the book also includes some of his poems and some prose reflections, most of which are being published for the first time, with a few exceptions.