Adam Velíšek

Adam Velíšek is a Czech sculptor, born on 31 March 1990; he lives and works in Prague. From 2004 to 2009 he studied artistic carving (wood) at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Prague. From 2009 to 2015 he continued at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in Professor Jan Hendrych’s studio of figurative sculpture and medal making, and went on to doctoral studies in the same field. He completed placements abroad: a student exchange in Savonlinna (Finland) in 2008 and, from February to June 2013, at the Hogeschool / Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp (Belgium).

He combines classical sculptural technologies with modifications of his own; he concentrates on capturing movement, on multiplying objects and on their arrangement in space. Among other things he works with cast ceramics and bronze. The aim of his work is to stir emotion and experience — for him it is form that carries the content.

Major works: the cycle “Army” (2013–2022), a set of sixty-six identical dog torsos (shown among other places at the Husa na provázku Theatre in Brno in 2015 and at the Brno City Museum); “Sperm Whale” (2023), a bronze cast on an oversized concrete plinth; “Moving Sculptural Avenue” (solo exhibition, Bubec Gallery, Prague, 5–31 January 2019); a cycle on the motif of the cyclist (frozen movement).

Exhibitions (selection 2007–2023): repeated participation in Art Safari (the 13th, 24th, 28th and 38th editions), exhibitions by Jan Hendrych and his studio (2023), Bubec Gallery, Museum Kampa, the Brno City Museum, Passau (2016), Dobrš (2017).

Awards: the Bogdana Najdenová Prize (2015); 2nd prize at the Holzbildhauersymposium FLUR 2011 in Riedelhof (Germany).