Martin Janecký – Dreamer

MARTIN JANECKÝ
Dreamers

Guided tours: 20.11., 3.12. and 16.12. always from 4 p.m.

curator: Barbora Kundračíková

architect: Petr Kolář

light design: Pavla Beranová

So it goes
Just a searcher
A lonely soul
The last of the dreamers

– David Bowie, The Dreamers (Hours, 1999)

 

Portraiture is a genre that convinces us of our own immortality. Yet it is also a tool for generalization. Who am I, and who are they? How can I understand myself—or them? How can I confront myself—or them? To what do we answer? Whom do we ask? To whom do we preach? Whom do we protect? Martin Janecký, glass artist, sculptor, creator, responds to such questions constantly—asking and at the same time answering. He emphasizes fundamental anthropological premises, appeals to basic humanism, to intellectual and emotional sensitivity, to empathy. And he recalls the great history of glass as a material endowed with its own symbolic meaning. Portrait, mask, imprint, replica—at a certain moment, they all become that one thing: the subject, the work. They take on their own existence, they occupy our positions, and allow us, for a moment, to step outside ourselves. To gain distance, to breathe, to dream—and then to immerse ourselves in life again.

The first monographic exhibition presented by Kodl Contemporary at its new location, is an invitation to a dialogue with what we anticipate yet cannot identify. We observe the face of ourselves—and search for the missing piece. The exhibition is of a dialectical character, concentrating and dispersing at the same time. It faces outward and takes advantage of the openness of the gallery’s architecture, but reaches its peak in an intimate dialogue.

Martin Janecký, Dreamer I, 2025

Martin Janecký says of the exhibition‘s title piece: “The dreamer is one of the figures in which I have combined an inner narrative with a striking composition. He is dreaming, and that dream is playing out externally. Two pigeons are fighting here, one falls, its wings useless. There is a certain anxiety in this.”

Martin Janecký (1980, Liberec, CZ) is primarily associated with the technique of inside sculpting in glass. Born into a family of glassmakers, he gained experience studying in Nový Bor (with Václav Macháč and others) and through residencies in the United States, Mexico, South Africa, and Australia. He has been active as an educator for many years (Corning School of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, Chrysler Museum of Art, Rietveld Academy, Bornholm Design School, Australian National University Canberra, Toyama City Institute of Glass Art, among others). He has collaborated with leading glass artists worldwide, including Martin Blank, Richard Royal, and William Morris, as well as with New York’s renowned Heller Gallery. In 2020, he settled permanently in the Czech Republic. He runs his own glass studio in Prague’s Lesser Town.

 

Notice to Gallery Visitors:

Due to the nature of the current exhibition, with glass sculptures installed throughout the gallery space, we ask visitors to exercise extra caution. Larger groups (e.g., school groups) are kindly asked to notify us of their visit in advance. For safety reasons, dogs are not permitted during this exhibition. Thank you for your understanding.