Red Pyramid (521)

Red Pyramid by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová
Stop Number: 

Stanislav Libenský (Czech, 1921–2002) and
Jaroslava Brychtová (Czech, b. 1924)
Czech Republic, Železný Brod
Mold-melted glass, cut
H: 83.4 cm, W: 119.3 cm, D: 28.2 cm

Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová’s sculptures are cast in a technique called mold melting, in which chunks of glass are allowed to melt into molds inside a large kiln. After the firing is complete, the sculpture is cooled and then extensively cut and ground.

Glass is a material that is often used symbolically. It lends itself to metaphor because it can imitate some things, such as water and stone, and suggest other things, such as air and light. One of the most powerful aspects of glass is its ability to hold light in its mass in a way similar to that in which energy, or the spirit, is held in the mass of the human body. In Red Pyramid, the dramatic character of the sculpture results from the penetration of light into the glass mass.

Gift of the artists.