Jaroslav Wasserbauer

born 1962, Nové Město na Moravě, The Czech republic

In recent years, the glass artist Jaroslav Wasserbauer has been successful in presenting his work abroad, his large-format glass sculptures have become part of many renowned collections /such as the Glas Museum Achilles-Stiftung in Hamburg, Germany; Imagine Museum, Glass St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Glass Museum, Monterrey, Mexico; Modern Art, Soul, South Korea; Habatat Galleries, USA; Taipei, Taiwan.../

Gallery Závodný is pleased to present J. Wasserbauer‘s art pieces in the installation focusing on his current work and its development towards monumental, minimalist objects. Melted glass generates initial platform for all his objects, the artist utilizes all potential and unique characteristics of glass to create abstract sculptures. The shapes and volumes of each artwork are formed by natural light, which brings the colour pigments to life.

Jaroslav Wasserbauer deliberately avoids decorativeness, ornamentation and affectation, which can easily be associated with glass materials. Instead of those he chooses purity and simplicity. These characteristics, combined with the proportions and weight of the sculptures, evoke respect.

A unique aspect seems to be the fact that the author and his son work personally in all phases of the complex technological process. Sketch, model, plaster form, rough processing of molten glass, grinding, and polishing – all these physically demanding operations are carried out by the artist himself; the author‘s supervision is almost one hundred percent.

Jaroslav Wasserbauer freely follows the strong tradition of Czech glassmaking, which was formed at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. Its circle mainly included students of Josef Kaplický, who worked at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague – Stanislav Libenský, Miluše Roubíčková, Vladimír Kopecký, and Václav Cigler. The duo of authors Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová were able to elevate their concept of glass fused sculptures to the level of monumental sculptural art, and together with their working group, they also dealt with the question of the use of glass sculpture in architecture.

Direct contact and cooperation with František Vízner and Bohumil Eliáš strengthened J. Wasserbauer’s direction towards free authorship. The infl uence of both artists can be traced more in the demands placed on the artist’s visions and strict self-correction than in the closeness of their artistic production. Jaroslav Wasserbauer soon detached himself from his patrons and developed his potential towards spatially expressive and geometrically shaped sculptures.

After studying at the Secondary Glass School in Světlá nad Sázavou, Jaroslav Wasserbauer worked as a glass grinder at the Bohemia glassworks in Josefův Důl. Glass engraver Josef Švarc used to work here accompanied by the young and talented artists. In between 1986 –1988 Jaroslav Wasserbauer participates in the Škrdlovice atelier. From 1988 he runs his own studio.

The strong tradition of Czech glass still resonates and is presented through the work of younger generations. Many art institutions in Czech Republic and abroad are well aware of the financial and physical demands, as well as of the technological diffi culty of the entire work process. The fact that they include glassworks in their acquisitions only proves its quality and uniqueness.