Štěpán Čapek

Štěpán Čapek is a Czech-German sculptor and artist. He was born on 31 March 1982 in the German Black Forest, where he spent his childhood; his roots are in České Budějovice, where his grandparents live. He comes from a family of artists — his father Jindra (Jindřich) Čapek is an internationally recognised Czech book illustrator and his sister Nina Čapková is also an artist.

He came to the Czech Republic to study at the St Agnes of Bohemia Secondary School of Applied Arts in Český Krumlov, and then continued in Prague at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, where he graduated from Professor Kurt Gebauer’s studio of sculpture in all its forms. Despite his classical craft training he is open to modern technology and likes to experiment with new materials and processes.

Style and themes: his early work grew out of figurative sculpture — female nudes in unusual poses derived from the positions of dancers, in which he knowingly departed from anatomical accuracy for the sake of form; he is drawn to the S-curves of the body and to rounded lines that suggest flowing energy. The figures were strictly without hair, because it disturbed the composition. Paradoxically, in later works he turned to hair itself — braids, buns and hair structures from various periods and cultures became his main subject. The sculptures have no face, because the point is not a superficial appraisal of the hairstyle but its structure, composition and symbolic value; he works with symmetry, mirroring, ornament and classical principles of antiquity (contrapposto, the dynamics of line, the diagonal), while stripping ornament of its decorative function.

Works and exhibitions: he had his first solo exhibition in the Czech Republic in Prague in 2008; in 2009 he won a sculpture competition in Prague 9 and then made the sculpture in front of the polyclinic/hospital in Prosek (given in sources as “Acrobat” or “Dancer”, in place since 2009). He has exhibited in Europe and in Beijing; in 2014 he took part in the 8th International Dada Festival in Basel and in a number of exhibitions in Germany, Austria and China. He was included in the group show of large-format sculpture in public space UNIVERSERUM (The Chemistry Gallery, the piazzetta of the National Theatre, Prague, 2015) and in the exhibition SCULPTURES!!! VOL. 3, generation XY (Hans Ulrich Villa, Ostrava, 2024–2025). He had a solo exhibition, “Grandmother Marta Braids Beautiful Plaits”, at the R2020 Gallery in České Budějovice (31 March – 31 May 2022); at the same time his three-metre sculpture of a girl’s head standing on its braids was installed in front of the Rabenstejn Tower. He is a founding member of the band The Dark Blue Elephants. Art in the City 2023, Hluboká nad Vltavou — “Gertrude”.