BIOGRAPHY

From the beginning of his life Alex was privy to both, technical and artistic views of the world. While his father taught him the ageless techniques of wood and metal craft, his mother opened his eyes to the possibilities of artistic imagination.

As a young adult, he enrolled in the Technical School of Machinery Construction and later, following his inner calling into a very selective and prestigious Prague Academy of Applied Art where he earned a Master’s Degree in Sculpture and Industrial Design.

At the Academy, his appreciation for the potential of metal continued to grow as he designed and helped build industrial equipment ranging from gigantic open coalmine excavator to miniature alarm clock. The ageless beauty and serenity of Prague with its century’s old art and architecture fed Alex's effervescent imagination and pushed him toward a more artistic use of his design abilities. Instead of more common casting and assembly of ready made parts, Alex preferred fabricating process, physically shaping and forming a sharp flat sheet of metal into sophisticated curvilinear form. To reflect a true poetry of the form, he enhanced the character of steel and bronze with magnificent patinas.

For over thirty years, Alex has applied his knowledge, expertise, and talent to transform vision into reality. Following his inspiration, he created pieces exhibited in numerous Art galleries and privately held collections in Europe, USA, Canada and Russia. Alex’s large scale sculptures and water fountains can be found in Czech and Austria and in permanent collection of Czech National Gallery in Prague, Museum of Modern Art in New York and Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.

So what inspires Alex Kveton? Nature in its simplicity and beauty. Nature with its magnificent structures and creations no one is able to imitate. Alex is the first one to admit that he cannot compete with nature in creating something as fascinating and delicate as a leaf of a tree or dew on grass. But with his work, Alex has been able to make magic in metal, crafting his very own brand of beauty, his very own way of taking where the nature left off and finishing the job in his mind and with his hands, creating something very simple, very beautiful, very magical just like the nature would have intended.

Alex Kveton a world-renowned sculptor is a graduate of the Technical School of Machinery Construction, and selective and prestigious Prague Academy of Applied Art in Czech Republic, with Master Degree in Sculpture and Industrial Design. He currently lives and works in Saugerties, NY.

ARTISTS STATEMENT

My inspiration comes from studying the nature around us. The intricate structure of a leaf, robustness of grass wind blowing through an open window, or moon reflecting in the water, all create the logical harmony of our nature’s “building blocks”. The nature is pure, clean, and precious in its own creation. Such insights are on my mind when creating sculptures. Simple, yet elegant, intended to enrich, decorate and above all distinguish the space as beautiful flowers or morning sunlight would.

EDUCATION

Technical school of Machinery Construction, Ostrava, Czech Republic

Academy of Applied Art, Prague, Czech Republic;

  - Master Degree in Sculpture and Industrial Design

MAJOR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

MoMA, New York, NY

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Atlanta, GA

Museum of Art, Ostrava, Czech Republic

SELECTED PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Atlanta, GA (“Porcupine Caribou”)

Raiffeisen Bank, St.Polten, Austria (“Fountain”)

Chamber of Commerce, Tarrytown, NY (“Headless Horseman” design & artist proof)

Lechner Food Chain, Austria (“Bronze relief & Sign”)

Castle Restaurant, Opava, Czech Republic (“Bronze sculpture”)

City Hall, Ostrava, Czech Republic (“Fountain”)

Vitkovice Steel, Czech Republic (“Man of Steel” -sculpture series)

Bohumin Steel, Czech Republic (“Award Medals”)

Department store, Ostrava, Czech Republic (“Relief”)

Executive office of Garment Factory, Fridek-Mistek, Czech Republic (Relief series)

Vitkovice Steel, Czech Republic (“Entrance Wall Relief”)

Shopping Center, Ostrava, Czech Republic (“Sundial”)

High School, Karvina, Czech Republic (“Spring Blossom”)

North Moravian Power Plant, Czech Republic (“Wall Relief”)

PRIVATE COLLECTORS

Numerous collectors:

USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Russia, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic.

ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCE A DESIGN WORK

“AlgoRytm Technology” - US patent

Director of Art Fabrication Division, New York, NY

“Open Coal Mine Excavator” Vitkovice Steel, Czech Republic

“Industrial Towers” OKD, Ostrava, Czech Republic

Furniture and Accessory Designs

EXPOSITIONS

Merz Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY

Tomlyn Gallery, Jupiter, Fl

Spot Gallery, Miami, FL

ANEW Museum & Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL

The Creative edge, Roslyn Heights, NY

Highland Sculpture Gallery, Carmel, CA

Chasen Galleries, Richmond, GA

RVS Fine Art, Southampton, NY

Pilie Inc, Houston, TX

Trowbridge-Lewis Galleries, Middleburg, VA

Dunkirk, San Francisco, CA

E.G.CODY, Dania, FL

Westwater Patterson, Chicago, IL

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2009

- OPUS 40 Gallery, Saugerties, NY

- RVS Gallery, Southampton, NY

- Merz Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY

- Union Mills Gallery, Catskill, NY

- WAAM, Woodstock, NY

2008

- The Spot Gallery, Art Basel Miami, FL

- Michael Nelson Gallery, Saugerties, NY

- The National Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY(Henry Cooper Memorial Prize; “best in sculpture”)

- Woodstock Art Association & Museum, NY (solo)

- Kleinert Gallery, Woodstock, NY

2007

- WAAM, Woodstock, NY
- Catskills Gallery, Saugerties NY
- OPUS 40 Gallery, Saugerties, NY
- RVS Gallery, Southampton, NY
- A-Forest Gallery, New York, NY

2006
- WAAM -Woodstock Art Assoc. & Museum, NY (award; “Best in a show”)

- RVS Fine Art, Southampton, NY (solo)

2005

- Trowbridge-Lewis Galleries, Middleburg, VA 

- RVS Fine Art, Southampton, NY

2003

- Hudson Gallery West, Hoboken, NJ (solo)

1999 - 1976

- Czech Center Gallery, NYC, NY 1999 (solo)

- Schulte Gallery, Milburn, NJ   1995

- Alten Herrenhause and Gallery, Kilb, Austria   1982 (solo)

- Raiffeisen Bank, St. Polten, Austria 1982 (solo)

- Museum Of Art, Ostrava, Czech Republic   1981, 1980, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976

- Czech Sculptors Associates, Czech Republic 1980, 1978, 1976

- Gallery Dilo, Prague, Czech Republic   1979

- Gallery Dilo, Ostrava, Czech Republic   1978

- “Young Artists and Industry”, Vitkovice Steel, Ostrava, Czech Republic   1977, 1976

- “Artists of Moravian Region”, Olomouc, Czech Republic   1976

- “Young Artists in Prague”, Prague, Czech Republic   1975, 1974