Marian Karel ranks as one of the most distinctive Czech glass artists of the second half of the 20th century. The main focus of his work is glass artefacts and installations in natural and architectonic environments. Alongside his own creative work he dedicates much of his time to teaching activities.
He acquired a college education between 1959 and 1963 at the Technical College
Of Costume Jewellery in Jablonec nad Nisou. From 1965 to 1972, he studied at the
Academy of Arts Architecture and Design in Prague in the studio of Stanislav Linenský. In 1992, he was appointed head of the Studio of Glass in Architecture at the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design in Prague where he worked until 2008. The following year, he transferred to the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech University of Technology in Prague as head of the Marian Karel Studio of Artistic Creation. Since 1986, he has served as visiting professor at many schools not only in Europe, but also in the USA and Japan.
Already during his studies he dealt with the relationship of the precise geometric glass form with space and light, a theme which has traversed his subsequent work. He explores light and illusive spatial changes in prismatic, cylindrical and conical cut-glass objects which he induces through various interventions (circular sections, fractures or curves) into objects. Furthermore, he works with separating or, conversely, fusing glass.
Within the framework of his work, he also turns his attention to large format sheets of glass, exploiting their ability to reflect and refract light rays, and mirror the surrounding environment. He combines more layers of glass one behind the other, creates larger units out of individual sheets, and tilts them towards each other and towards light sources.
Characteristic aspects of Marian Karel's work are typical combinations of transparent glass with functional construction materials (stone, metal), minimalist tendencies, and a feeling for spatial relationships. The observer's attention is not only drawn by the form of Marian Karel's artwork but also by the way he works with exterior light which is mirrored several times, thus creating illusive spaces.
1978
Coffered ceiling of the Czechoslovak Embassy
Cairo, Egypt
1991
Sculpture for sports grounds in polished granite, molten glass and steel
Chitose, Japan
1992
Spatial installation from steel and glass for the Czechoslovak pavilion
Expo ˈ92 Seville, Spain
2002
Tower
Museum Kampa – Sovovy mlýny, Prague
2010
Gateway of Time
Jiřího z Poděbrad Square, Cheb
Alena Malá (ed.), Slovník českých a slovenských výtvarných umělců 1950–2000 V, Ka–Kom, Ostrava 2000, s. 108.
AA [Alena Adlerová], heslo Karel, Marian, in: Anděla Horová (ed.), Nová encyklopedie českého výtvarného umění I, A–M, Praha 1995, s. 339–340.