Renata Kudlacek: Next Stop Prague – The Cloud One Hotel Prague | from 13.06.2024

BBA Gallery Berlin announces the commissioning of artist and gallery owner Renata Kudlacek for the “Cloud One Prague” project, a design hotel in Prague. After around 9 months of planning, implementation and design, the grand opening of an edition specially created for the occasion in Prague will now take place on Thursday, 13 June 2024.

Image above: by courtesy of BBA Gallery, Berlin

The project, entitled “My Bohemia“, presents Kudlacek’s artistic (floral) motifs in a total of 382 rooms. In the reception area, visitors will also find a unique installation by Kudlacek measuring 3 by 6 metres. In this work of art, the iconic features of the city are interwoven with its rich history and mythology to create a unique collage.

About the artwork

The rich cultural tapestry of Bohemia draws inspiration from Kudlacek’s own history with the country as her place of birth, as well as the country’s history, architecture and vibrant atmosphere. As if standing overlooking the Vltava river, the fluidity and movement reflecting is achieved by layering a collection of photographs, family archives, drawings and paintings. The work is created through techniques of screenprinting, etching and fine art printing.

Key motifs include the Charles Bridge, statues of Ivo of Kermartin, the Prague Castle and most famously the “Prague Orloj” astronomical clock. This monument is not only a timekeeping device but also an astronomical instrument and a work of art significant for the Czech people, representing their rich history, scientific achievements, and artistic heritage.

About the artist

Renata Kudlacek was born in Zábřeh, Czech Republic. Her father was Czech and worked as a photographer, her mother was German. German and Czech were always spoken in the Catholic home with intergenerational roots in the Czech Republic. The artist’s older sister fled to the West as a young woman; Renata Kudlacek and her parents followed her when Czechs of German origin and their spouses were allowed to leave what was then Czechoslovakia.  

In the late 1990s, Renata moved to London, Great Britain, and completed her master’s degree in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art in 2003. 

In her master’s thesis entitled A Work of Memory, Renata Kudlacek dealt with the question of the meaning of memory and how it is a result of imaginative processes. Something that influences her artwork today.

“There is also this constant struggle,” Kudlacek says, “between ethics and science – belief and facts – old standards and the new unknown.  Where we stand on life’s essential moral questions requires constant revision in the baffling speed of an ever-changing world.”

In her artwork, the artist combines her own photographs and drawings, made to simulate old engravings or paintings of flora and fauna, with original drawings. 

During her studies, she also worked as a curator – an activity she continued alongside her artistic work for fifteen years. First in London, and since 2017, as co-director of the Berlin BBA Gallery. She says, “Curatorial work broadens my horizons and provides valuable new impulses for my own artistic work.” 

Renata’s work has been exhibited widely across Europe whilst actively working for various art and education initiatives including project management and curation.

WHEN?

opening: Thursday 13th June 2024

WHERE?

The Cloud One Hotel Prague,
Hybernská 2140/17
CZ-11000 Prag

BBA Gallery
Köpenicker Str. 96
10179 Berlin