Alena Matĕjka & Lars Widenfalk – Dreams

Exhibition period: November 2019 – February 2020

The Czech-Swedish artistic couple Alena Matĕjka and Lars Widenfalk blend their distinctive backgrounds and creative practices to create thought-provoking works of art, combining glass, stone, and organic materials in sculptures that resonate with emotional depth and cultural symbolism.

Alena Matĕjka: After graduating from the Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov, Alena Matejka (born 1966 in the Czech Republic) studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. Her professor Vladimír Kopecký left a lasting impression on her, encouraging her to disregard all conventions and embark on a quest for the unique. The artist works with glass, stone and organic materials. Her objects carry a special mysticism within them, as can be seen in the installation “My Dear, Hunter from Lavondyss”, which we previously showed in her solo exhibition in our gallery in 2015. The new installation “She is not Me”, which can be seen in our new exhibition alongside other works by the artist, was recently on display in her solo exhibition at one of the world’s most important glass museums, the Toyama Glass Art Museum in Japan. Matejka finds inspiration for her work in random encounters in her daily life, in connections to other people, as well as in nature. Living myths, cultures and stories permeate her works.

Lars Widenfalk (born 1954 in Sweden) studied archaeology and art history at the University of Uppsala in Sweden and at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in Norway. Together with his wife Alena Matejka he works alternately in Sweden, the Czech Republic and Italy. The artist is regarded as one of the sculptors who have found a new means of pictorial expression in Nordic sculpture. He works with many materials from bronze to snow and ice. His main materials are marble and granite. In recent years he has increasingly worked with glass, which he often uses in combination with stone. His early works were often realistic and figurative. However, this has evolved into sculptures with a symbolic and spiritual expression. Many of his works deal with the subject of place and man. Lars Widenfalk has participated in over 100 solo and group exhibitions in Sweden, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Alena Matĕjka and Lars Widenfalk – Exhibition Video