Jakub Berdych st.

Jakub Berdych (*1953), after several years at the Prague UMPRUM, set out on the path of freelancing in 1983. He gained attention not only as a sought-after restorer of historical interiors, but also as a designer and glass artist. Since 2003 he has also been a teacher at the Department of Design at the Technical University of Liberec.

The link between Berdych’s works is the surrounding world and the traces of man in it. He walks the earth with open eyes and mind, literally transforming it into glass, whether in the form of sculptures, bottles or vases. He is creative in the true sense of the word, excelling in the art of abbreviation and punchline, with a sense of hyperbole and contextual hide-and-seek. He can simply create extraordinary commonplaces out of glass, sometimes, according to the puritans, even disrespectful to the material, as his contemporaries a generation younger do with gusto. Jakub Berdych is not a dreamer, but a glass realist. He knows what he can afford and what the material can afford. Potential is only meaningful to him if it is actually used. But he is not a cold racio. In his vision of the world there is an ever-present, almost childlike joy of first finding, which everyone would like to retain. And thanks to his works, for a while at least, this is possible for us too.

Interview: Material Times – Jakub Berdych st.: Bordel, co po nás zbývá, zpracovávám dál