Public Art Research Archive, Sheffield Hallam University
PUBLIC ART IN SHEFFIELD

Jirí Beránek
'ÚTOCIŠTÉ' (Shelter),1996.
now destroyed
Graves Park
Wood, sawn and axed



Location:
The piece is located in the bottom corner of a sloping field in Graves Park. (A-Z p. 111 6D)

Description:
The piece forms a fort or shelter shape. Sawn planks Wood, logs - sawn and axed. Dimensions: 10 x 4 m.
Update [Feb 2001]: The upright timbers have been cut to half their length with a chain saw, all the rear supports have uprooted, several of the wall pieces have been removed and left on the ground. This work does not appear have been done by vandals, but presumably for some safety reasons. The piece is surrounded by a small wire fence.

Commission:
Given as a gift to the City of Sheffield, some funding from YHA and support from Sheffield City Council. The official opening on 26 September 1996 was attended by the Lord Mayor. Onsite assistance from David Cooper (Sheffield City Council).

Comment:
This piece was produced onsite over a period of two and a half weeks 9th - 26th September as part of an artists' exchange project curated by Henry Tietzsch-Tyler (artist) and Tim Whitten (Sheffield City Museum & Mappin Art Gallery).

Other artists in the exchange were Vacláv Bláha, Michael Rittstein, Henry Tietzsch-Tyler and James Quinn. Work of all artists in the project was on show in the Mappin Art Gallery from 28th September - 10th November 1996.
Galerie VIA Art in Prague showed the work of Henry Tietzsch-Tyler and James Quinn from 15th July - 25th August 1996.

Notes:
" .... Beránek's recent work comes across as a reminiscence on the hidden sensitivity of man. His new works are a searching and trembling exploration revealing the junctures of time, appearing as protected places or else as passageways to the unknown beyond. Wherever Beránek's sculptures are situated, they are places where we feel a power that continually transcends us. His works compel us to realise the intensity of the expression of prehistoric art. He reveals the world of myth, a world before memory, which he does not indicate from outside, using signs or symbols, but introduces through the junctures of time and space in his sculptures. "
Ivan Neumann, from the catalogue of the Mappin exhibition.

The above information was supplied by Henry Tietzsch -Tyler.

Update: [February 2001]
Much of this piece has now been cut down by the Parks Dept. as a decision was made that it might be unsafe. As the photograph shows the work has been fenced off, half-destroyed and abandoned. The Parks Dept. did not inform either Beránek or Tietzsch-Tyler of this decision in advance and, as far as we know, have not communicated with the artist afterwards.



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