THREE DIMENSIONS OF LOVE: They Studied Sculpture under Lukáš Rittstein
13. 2. 2026 - 31. 3. 2026
The exhibition THREE DIMENSIONS OF LOVE presents the sculptural school (Studio of Sculpture I) led by Lukáš Rittstein from 2013 to 2023 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, within the framework of the reformed Academy (after 1989), where he was the fourth professor following Karel Nepraš, Jan Koblasa, and Jaroslav Róna. Under his guidance, the studio was transformed quite literally into a laboratory in which experimentation merged with the methods of traditional sculpture. This was made possible by the artist’s own open approach to updating and rethinking sculptural form, as well as his openness to new material challenges emerging on the horizon of accelerated social development. Central to the pedagogical practice and the studio’s renewed focus was the thematization of the contradictory relationship between nature and civilization (second nature), and, more broadly, between historical memory, individual recollection, myth, and the ritual nature of humanity in an era marked by the widespread diffusion of digital technologies, social networks, and the invasive rise of AI. All of this is reflected in the transformation of sculptural thinking in relation to changes in human consciousness, perception, and sensitivity. Under these conditions, sculpture becomes above all an act of metamorphosis. Traditional methods of creating sculptural form are confronted here with the fragmenting temporality of inherently human time, whose vulnerability is revealed against the backdrop of relentless mechanical and digital production. The project refers to the transcendental nature of creation and art, which by their very nature cyclically recur, as they renew the world as seen by the eyes and felt by the whole body. It is from love, not from hatred, that time itself is ultimately born and renewed.
The exhibition THREE DIMENSIONS OF LOVE at Galerie Portheimka in Prague is the second stop of an exhibition trilogy, following the presentation at the Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem (October 2025 – January 2026) and preceding the final project at Galerie Klatovy / Klenová, scheduled for 2027. Accompanying the exhibition trilogy is a catalogue featuring texts by Petr Vaňous, Martina Vítková, Pavlína Morganová, and Lukáš Rittstein, mapping the activities of the studio, its students, graduates, and visiting artists, while simultaneously addressing broader questions related to the situation of contemporary young sculptural practice.
Exhibiting Artists:
Lukáš Rittstein – Michal Cimala (assistant); Patrik Adamec, Dana Bartoníčková, Andrea Baštýřová (Lédlová), Elisabeth Anna Beran, Filip Brandejský, Michael Jan Bublík, Marie Dobešová (Jiřičková), Pavla Dundálková, Aneta Filipová, Anna Heřmánková, Vojtěch Hrubant, Marie Jarošincová, Miriam Kaminská, Anna Krninská, Pavlína Kvita, Anastasiia Lisnycha, Martin Malý, Barbora Masaříková, Darina Molatová, Radek Mrština, Michal Nagypál, Ondřej Navrátil, Nikola Emma Ryšavá, SIKRA (Simona Krausová), Marie Skořepa Videmanová, Radek Směták, Sára Svobodová, Michal Šembera Čeloud, Tereza Šrámková, Kateřina Šťastná, Adam Tenora, Vojtěch Trocha, Maria Vasylieva, Michal Vojtík, Barbora Vovsová, Vavřinec Vyoral, Ruslan Vysokikh, Linda Wrong
curator: Petr Vaňous
