Klara Kristalova

Czech, b. 1967

566 followers

Klara Kristalova

Bio

Czech, b. 1967

Followers
566
Biography

Klara Kristalova’s uncanny sculptures in bronze, ceramic, plaster and wood portray adolescent girls and boys, often marked with exaggerated features or transforming into flora or animals, that call to mind old folk tales, gothic novels, childhood fantasies, dreams, and nightmares. Although rooted in the decorative and craft tradition of 18th-century Meissen porcelain figurines, Kristalova twists this age-old technique by manipulating the glazes so that they often run and bleed into each other, the figures’ iridescent surfaces becoming more painterly than sculpted. Displayed in old wooden cabinets, or seated on child-sized beds and high chairs, Kristalova’s works evoke 18th and 19th-century Wunderkammer or Cabinet of Curiosities, creating a surreal micro-world in which viewers are invited to dwell.

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Career Highlights
Learn more about artist insights.
Blue chip status
Blue chip representation
Represented by internationally reputable galleries.
Group
Group show at a major institution
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and 1 more
Publication
Reviewed by a major art publication
frieze, and 1 more
Biography

Klara Kristalova’s uncanny sculptures in bronze, ceramic, plaster and wood portray adolescent girls and boys, often marked with exaggerated features or transforming into flora or animals, that call to mind old folk tales, gothic novels, childhood fantasies, dreams, and nightmares. Although rooted in the decorative and craft tradition of 18th-century Meissen porcelain figurines, Kristalova twists this age-old technique by manipulating the glazes so that they often run and bleed into each other, the figures’ iridescent surfaces becoming more painterly than sculpted. Displayed in old wooden cabinets, or seated on child-sized beds and high chairs, Kristalova’s works evoke 18th and 19th-century Wunderkammer or Cabinet of Curiosities, creating a surreal micro-world in which viewers are invited to dwell.

Career Highlights
Learn more about artist insights.
Blue chip status
Blue chip representation
Represented by internationally reputable galleries.
Group
Group show at a major institution
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and 1 more
Publication
Reviewed by a major art publication
frieze, and 1 more
Articles Featuring Klara Kristalova
20 Artists on the Work They Made in 2020
Nov 20th, 2020
20 Artists on the Work They Made in 2020
Top 10 Contemporary Artists Working With Ceramics
Jul 5th, 2014
Top 10 Contemporary Artists Working With Ceramics
My Highlights from Frieze London
Oct 11th, 2013
My Highlights from Frieze London
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