David Černý Prague Sculpture Guide

David Černý Prague Sculpture Guide: Can You Find All the Bizarre Sculptures?

This is my updated David Černý Prague Sculpture Guide! You may have seen Czech Artist David Černý’s most recent piece of work floating along the Vlatva River in October 2013. Built as a large, purple hand with the middle finger elongated and pointed at the Czech Parliamentary building, the sculpture made some publicity in Prague during the year’s elections.

Though it may seem as a surprise to foreigners, this isn’t the first time the famous Czech artist David Černý has made headlines with his work. In fact, the artsy city of Prague is speckled with his works, some temporary displays, but many permanent fixtures.

As an art enthusiast, I think David Černý is one of the most modern, daring, and outspoken artists today. Some will definitely find his work offensive, but for the open-minded, you can find his work very to be humorous. As I was able to spend an extended amount of time in Prague, I made it a goal to locate as many of his sculptures as I could. Some were easy to find and some…not so much. Here is my updated David Černý Prague Sculpture Guide to help those of you out there who had just as much curiosity as I did in locating these hidden treasures.

Žižkov TV Tower Babies

Probably one of the most noticeable and iconic pieces of his collection are the “Babies” collection. These faceless sculptures can be seen crawling around in two locations in Prague. One is on the Žižkov TV Tower, a 216 meter tall tower with 10 of the overgrown-looking babies crawling along the sides of the vertical beans supporting the base at the top.

The Žižkov TV tower can be seen anywhere throughout the city as it is the largest building. The other location is at the Kampa Museum of Modern Art on the other side of the Vlatva River. I found one of the easiest ways to access it’s location was by taking be the green subway line down.

If your goal is to locate the other babies, head over west across the Vlatva River and to the Kampa Art Museum. A fascinating museum itself, the babies will be located north of the entrance to the museum under a group of tall trees. If you’re in Old Town, just walk across the Charles Bridge and go south. You will also see an exhibit of the floods that hit Prague last year in the area as well.

Saint Wenceslas Upside Down Horse

Located just south of Wenceslas Square is the well known Lucerna Music Bar. Simply take any tram line to Václavské náměstí (Wenseclas Square) and get off. If you look in the south direction you will see a large Lucerna sign. The place hosts a number of different shows, a ballroom, cafes, restaurants, and one of David Černý’s sculptures. Once you find the big Lucerna hall, follow the corridor till you see a number of cafes and restaurants in a dimly lit room. As soon as you take step into the room, tilt your head back and look up. You will see a horse looking you straight in the face.

This is the famous Duke of Bohemia riding his horse.

Pissing Sculptures

Not far from the Kampa Art Museum is the Franz Kafka Museum. If you’re near the Charles Bridge simply cross the bridge going west and take your first right off the bridge. Follow the windy path, which will take you in a circular direction down a hill till you come across a large, wooden gated entrance. There you will see the Franz Kafka Museum and a round, flat fountain in front, with two men pissing into a pond. The kinetic sculptures actually rotate around a bit which adds to a lively effect to the somewhat “clean” fountain.

As you get a closer peek, you will also notice that the sculptures have a layered effect and the shape of the pond is of the Czech Republic. Even more interesting is that the sculptures are peeing out Czech literary quotes into the little pond. You may see how Mr. Černý is able to stir up some trouble and controversy with his sculptures.

The Red Skull at DOX Center for Contemporary Art

(No longer Up)

Up north in Prague District 7 is the modern art museum known as DOX center for contemporary art. Take the red subway line up to Nádraží Holešovice which is a major bus stop. From the stop you will need to head east, across the highway till you come across the cross street called Osadna­. Take the street south and you will see along the corner a building with variety of street art and graffiti. The building on the outside is fairly colorful so it shouldn’t be hard to miss. You will have to pay to go in the museum to get a closer look at the Red Skull which rotates on the roof. The DOX art museum is worth a peek, depending on what exhibits are showing. Can’t say I know what the exact meaning is behind this skull.

David Černý’s Standing Brown-Nosers

Once again, David Černý has another of his sculptures enclosed within a museum. This time it sits within the Futura Art Museum located in Prague 5, on the west side of the Vlatva River. I found the easiest route was to take the 9 tram to Å vandovo divadlo. Then get off and continue walking west along Petrin Hill on Hoekova street. Follow the path up 15 minutes or so and the building will be on your left. Tread slowly as it is easy to miss the entrance, the actually museum is behind the housing lining the street.

Follow the corridor inside and you will see the modern art museum. It’s an interesting museum and it’s all that you make of it. The Brown-Noser sculptures were actually a little tricky to find as I went when it was getting dark. The sculptures actually sit outside in the garden area of the museum, leaning against the walls when you step outside. You’ll have some ladders to walk up and stick your head in their arse if that’s your kind of thing. Hence the name….

Man Hanging Out (Sigmund Freud)

One of my favorites and most suspenseful to find is the “Man Hanging Out” sculpture of Sigmund Freud. To find this sculpture you must find the tricky routes out of the Old Town Square while keeping your head up. Follow the path to Husova Street, and you will eventually come to an end once you spot Mr. Freud dangling above. Just keep your head up…it’s not as easy as you think spotting Mr. Freud.

“Quo Vadis”

David Černý’s first sculpture and one of controversy as well is the “Quo Vadis” sculpture that is situated in the German Embassy’s backyard. This sculpture “I believe”  is not open to the public, as it’s fenced around the German Embassy grounds. The only pics I was able to snap was from the trail behind the embassy. Mr. Černý created this sculpture after the 4000 East Germans who left the garden of the West German Embassy in 1989. After being granted political asylum the Germans left all their Trabants behind. Trabants were an automobile produced by an East German manufacturer between 1957-1991.

If you’ve got the urge to see it in person, track it down by crossing the Charles Bridge going west and take a left onto Karmelitská. Then quickly take a right onto Triziste till you come across the US embassy.

Once again, you’ll see the forked path and take the left road this time all the way up where you will eventually see the German embassy. Continue past it and you’ll see a playground area. Around this area will be a small path that goes behind the fences, next to the hill that sits behind. Follow the path that will loop you around to the back of the embassy where you can peek into the fences. Then, snap the shot you’ve been itching for.

Embryo

This is the one sculpture I didn’t get a chance to go discover unfortunately. There always seems to a thing or two you happen to forget about when traveling. Anyhow the sculpture supposedly lights up at night giving off an eery red glow. It is also supposed to be easy to miss, just like Mr. Hanging Man. It’s engulfed on the corner of Divadlo Na Zábradlí Theatre bulging out within a drain pipe. If you’re in the area during the night, it will light up and you will see an embryo inside.

The Meet Factory

Last but not least the Meet Factory, a remote venue where hipsters in Prague can be found. Mr. Černý turned this once old, industrial factory into an artist gallery and popular music venue in 2001. You get the vibe that its kind of a place where artsy, indie, music-punky kids come to hang out at. However, the site attracts a wide variety of people because of the different art galleries that take place and creative music artists that stroll. I attended a show Friday night with some friends and was definitely surprised by the amount of people that came out for it.

The venue is situated pretty far outside the main Prague city limits and takes at least a half hour to get to from the city center. However, I do recommend giving it a visit, at least to catch a show if you have the time. The place is easily spottable by the melted-looking red vehicles that sit right above the entrance. Take the 14 tram down to Lihovar stop and walk up a hill. You will see the Meet Factory logo imprinted along the sidewalk on the way up to help guide you there.

You’ve Completed the David Černý Prague Sculpture Guide!

And there you have it! Every one of David Černý’s sculptures (up to 2014) in Prague located and directions made just for you. I really enjoyed Mr. Černý’s work and hope you do the same trying to track down each work that is currently up. Good luck hunting and utilizing the David Černý Prague Sculpture Guide as much as you can! If you have any recommendations or updates on improving the guide please comment below!