Lukáš Novák
Lukáš Novák (1987) is among the prominent figures of the contemporary generation of artists expanding the medium of glass within the context of contemporary art. His practice draws on the tradition of North Bohemian glassmaking, which he reinterprets through current questions of visuality, identity, material culture, and the very nature of the artistic object. Positioned between contemporary art and material research, his work approaches glass not as a decorative or functional element, but as an autonomous medium capable of carrying meaning, memory, and time.
Novák works primarily with optical glass, using it to create situations that oscillate between formal precision, optical illusion, and visual mystification. His practice is characterized by a high degree of reduction and technical precision, in which the demanding nature of working with the material is transformed into a concentrated visual experience. His objects balance between physical presence and an almost immaterial optical effect, between form and content, matter and mental projection.
After graduating from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Novák’s practice increasingly focused on autonomous work with objects, light, and material. Through glass, he explores the limits of perception and the medium itself, employing traditional glassmaking technologies as tools for contemporary artistic expression. His work combines refined craftsmanship with a conceptual approach, material experimentation, and poetic sensitivity.
A central theme in Novák’s work is light, optics, and the material’s ability to generate uncertainty between reality and illusion. His objects often function as visual situations on the threshold of physical presence and optical deception, opening questions related to perception, memory, time, and human experience. At the same time, he seeks to redefine Czech studio glass within the international context of contemporary art.
His works have been presented in numerous international exhibitions and are included in private collections in the Czech Republic and abroad, including the collection of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden. In 2025, his object Pretty Mirage received the ARTERÍA Award at The Venice Glass Week.
