Knapek, Pavel

First name: 
Pavel
Initials: 
P.
Surname: 
Knapek
Year of birth: 
1951
Birthplace: 
Prague - Czechia
Country of birth: 
The Netherlands
Working period: 
1977
CV: 

Pavel Knapek is born in Prague, Czechia in 1951. He was taught in ceramics at Crafts School, specialized in porcelain in Karlovy Vary between 1967 and 1971. He continued his training at Prague School of Applied Arts between 1971 and 1977. His studio is in Ostrov nad Ohri, Czechia.

Pictures: Pavel Knapek, portrait (source Hlahol.websdarma.cz); Pavel Knapek, portrait (source Galerie DORKA); object 'In the wind', porcelain-relief, cast in unique papermould, unglazed, 53x39cm, around 1996 (source Galerie Amphora, Oosterbeek NL); object 1 and 2 (source Pinterest).

Work of the artist: 

Pavel Knapek makes porcelain reliefs which one could call 'minimal' art. He combines purely geometrical forms, especially cubes, with chaotical parts, which look like crushed paper. He is fascinated by the transition from expressive, tactile forms to the esoteric region of the ungraspable. He begins with a drawing on paper. Then he crushes the paper in order to create a relief. This he transposes onto the mass of porcelain, by means of the casting technique. At this he uses the fineness and malleability of the liquid porcelain material, capturing the fleeting beauty of the paper. This metamorphosis is made permanent by the firing procedure. Finally, Knapek uses his pencil again to emphasise the contradiction of the elements of his compositions, of intention and chance, of order and chaos (text Galerie Amphora, Oosterbeek NL).