"Antiauthoritarianism is a persistent refrain throughout his oeuvre. His sculpture is circumspect toward the powerful. Historically, the media has been used to glorify leaders and the state. From Michelangelo's "David" to the Monument to Soviet Tank Crews, statues legitimize and make authority visible. Vandalizing statues has existed for millennia as a choice method for criticizing governments and showing the overthrow of the old guard."
"Ancient Egyptians even believed that taking the nose from a statue made the corresponding spirit unable to breathe, and that chipping off the ears made it deaf to prayers. Cerný similarly uses sculpture to question the viewer's sense of what is sacrosanct. He is outspoken in interviews with his displeasure over the resurgence of fascism around the globe, and his struggle with that has been a consistent refrain of his artwork."
Antiauthoritarianism recurs across Cerný's oeuvre. Cerný's sculptures interrogate power and use historical context to show how statues legitimize authority. Vandalizing statues is presented as a longstanding form of political critique, with Ancient Egyptian beliefs about disabling a statue's nose or ears given as an example. Cerný responds to a global resurgence of fascism by embedding explicit political statements in his work and choosing sculpture as his medium in place of protest songs. Humor, surrealism, and sarcasm function as cathartic devices that humanize and amplify the political message. Brownnosers, a 2003 installation, invites provocative bodily engagement and exemplifies his confrontational, satirical approach.
Read at Hi-Fructose Magazine - The New Contemporary Art Magazine
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