Rehau, Bahnhof
Václav Fiala
Václav Fiala completed his studies at the Secondary School of Applied Art in Prague. He held a number of solo exhibitions (the Prague Castle, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Museum Moderner Kunst in Passau, Mánes Gallery, Maerz Gallery in Linz, Cordonhaus Gallery in Cham, St. Anne’s Church in Passau, Granitzentrum in Hauzenberg, etc.), and also participated in many collective expositions (the
Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Spain, France, the U.S.). In 1997, he obtained a grant from the American Pollock-Krasner Foundation and exhibited in Socrates Sculpture Park in New York. Participation in more than sixty sculpture symposia allowed him to make large format works using stone, wood and iron. In 2004 and 2005, he exhibited within the framework of Sculpture by the Sea in Sydney, where he won the main Sydney Sculpture Prize twice. Fiala’s sculptural approach is based on minimization of shapes and is often inspired by architecture. He lectures on the subject of fine art works in public space.
engines
At the Station Square in Rehau we encounter a work that the author himself classifies as one of his "industrial sculptures". It is called "Motors" and dates from the year 2016 and fits perfectly with the industrial city of Rehau, especially with the the unmistakable factory buildings in the background. Its dimensions are 2.20 x 3.10 m and a height of 2.50 m, and a weight of 3 t. She doesn't really need a big interpretations. Electric motors as the driving force of various manufacturing industries in the past in the past are commonplace. Recently, they have been discovered as an environmentally friendly propulsion for road vehicles. The motors often were not and are not in a clean state, because they deposit manufacturing contaminants on the outside and the inside lubricating grease is squeezed out of the inside. The engines here are refined - not to say "refined". Not only are they cleaned. They're also covered in paint. This makes them far from their original purpose. But that doesn't harm our awareness and of what they've done in their past, where and wherever they've gone they have been of use. The massive base that supports them on one side on the one hand provides support, but it can also be interpreted as a means of to control and tame them, to harness the energy and power that comes from of the engines does not get out of control and become unbridled and a danger to people. The engines are, after all, servants to facilitate and enable to carry out activities. The action of this sculpture is quite different from when you see it in a museum, in a gallery. Here, around the railway and in the near the factories, we perceive it more vividly, certainly not sterile...
Hans-Joachim Goller
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