David Škaroupka

David Škaroupka is a sculptor from Brno who came to sculpture by an unusual route — he is self-taught, with no classical art education (a hairdresser by trade). He has been modelling since childhood and, through other creative pursuits, gradually came to sculpture. Artistic guidance was given to him by the academic sculptor Stefan Milkov, a member of the Tvrdohlaví group. Both he and his curators see the absence of schooling as an advantage — he does not have to follow settled rules or trends and builds his own intuitive relationship to the material. He works chiefly with classical sculptural materials: stone (granite, marble) and wood, and with concrete for works in public space. He draws inspiration from stones, their shapes, colours and energy, which he joins with abstraction; his works have a clear conceptual basis bound up with nature, the female body and living creatures.

The sculptures stand out for their simple organic shapes emphasising the rawness of the material used; recurring motifs are femininity, grace, feathers and wings as symbols of possible flight and freedom.

Exhibitions and works: 2022 his debut at a pop-up exhibition at the Governor’s Palace of the Moravian Gallery in Brno; 2023 an exhibition at the G13 gallery and at the town hall of the Brno-střed district, and a joint exhibition with Radka Coufalová, Magdalena Pernická and Maxmilian Milkov at the Chateau Mill in Nejdek u Lednice; 2023 a collaboration with Stefan Milkov on the sculpture of St John the Baptist for the 30th Mikulov art symposium; 2024 a collaboration with the Meeting Brno festival (the sculpture Angel, given to Karel “Kovy” Kovář and the doctor Rola Hallam), the solo exhibition “Quiet Flights” at the newly restored Arnold Villa in Brno (Brno City Museum, 24 July – 6 September 2024), with one of the sculptures becoming part of the permanent display in the villa’s gardens; and an opening at the Jef Kratochvil Gallery at the Brno City Theatre.

2025 the sculpture “Space-dog” (concrete) for the Art in the City festival in Hluboká nad Vltavou, made in cooperation with MCAE Systems and VOXELL. His work has been curated by PhDr. Michal Tošner, Ph.D. and MgA. Jan Spěváček.