Lukáš Rais is an artist whose studio can resemble a factory. He works with metal and his studio is full of machines that process materials in different ways. In a way, he functions as the director of the company within the production process. His entire team is involved in the realisation of his works, to whom he communicates his vision. Lukáš Rais’s works are made up of many small pieces and each one matters. The artist works with an industrial product – knees, which he models in various ways. “I keep coming up with new possibilities and shapes. Figurative and abstract forms, reliefs, knots. In my team, welders, machinists, engineers, planners, designers collaborate on the genesis of the artwork,” Lukáš Rais describes the process of creating his works.
As part of PAW, Lukáš Rais’s works will be on display at two locations, the PAW Superstudio in the Veletržní Palace of the National Gallery and Franz Kafka Square. There you will have the opportunity to see the work Trichodon – a polished steel sculpture with a simple shape and generous scale. The object, 4 metres long and 1.8 metres high, can be climbed and sat on, which is characteristic of Lukáš Rais’ work. But the sculpture has another interactive character: it “copies the terrain and all the conditions it reflects. The colours, the weather, the sculpture’s surroundings. You have no chance to approach the sculpture without defining it. This fact brings movement to the work of art, even though it is a static work,” says the sculptor of the upcoming object.
The work is part of a collection that will be unveiled at the Secret Place during the opening of PAW, curated by Petr Volf, who was a guest on the last episode of the podcast.
