- Title: Czech artist paints steel canvasses with fire
- Date: 28th July 2017
- Summary: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) FORMER FACTORY PRAGOVKA IN PRAGUE, NOW A COMPLEX OF ARTIST STUDIOS CZECH ARTIST LADISLAV VLNA LIGHTING OXYACETYLENE TORCH VARIOUS OF VLNA WORKING ON DEPICTION OF CZECH WRITER KAREL CAPEK (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH ARTIST, LADISLAV VLNA, SAYING: "I am painting using fire instead of a paintbrush. I am extracting the colours from inside the steel with heat and fire." VARIOUS OF VLNA CREATING FINE DETAILS USING SMALL TORCH (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH ARTIST, LADISLAV VLNA, SAYING: "This is just another kind of thinking about a picture and painting as it is. The movement of the lighting you have to work with is like (balls in) billiards." VARIOUS OF VLNA WORKING VARIOUS OF FINISHED WORKS (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH ARTIST, LADISLAV VLNA, SAYING: "Today you can take a camera, make a photo of the painting, multiply it into a million copies and a million people have the same painting. In this case, it is impossible - you must stand in front of it or you don't see it." PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) WOMEN OBSERVING VLNA'S EXHIBITION LIGHT REFLECTING ON PORTRAIT PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH ARTIST, LADISLAV VLNA, SAYING: "When you take a photo of this kind of painting, you only get one of its looks. The picture placed in the same place looks different in the morning and evening depending on the light changing - the picture is changing according to the light." PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) WOMEN LOOKING AT VLNA'S WORK VARIOUS OF ABSTRACT WORK FROM VLNA MAN LOOKING AT PORTRAIT OF WOMAN LIGHT CHANGING OVER PORTRAIT OF WOMAN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VLNA WORKING IN STUDIO POSTER ADVERTISING VLNA'S EXHIBITION
- Embargoed: 11th August 2017 11:06
- Keywords: Czech artist Ladislav Vlna Prague steel artwork painting with fire
- Location: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Art,Conflicts/War/Peace,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA0016RMTMBD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: During his childhood, 40-year-old Czech artist Ladislav Vlna spent much time in his father's metal workshop, fascinated by how the fire could change the colours of metal. After studying at the Prague Fine Arts Academy, Vlna started experimenting with steel and applying fire to it to make art.
After 15 years of trial and error, he came up with a new technique, using fire to create steel paintings. He calls it "metallurgic painting" - by using different sized torches, scratching and polishing the steel surface he is able to create original artworks, including portraits.
On a recent visit by Reuters TV to Vlna's studio at Pragovka, a former factory that's now an arts complex, he was working on a portrait of the famous Czech writer Karel Capek.
What makes Vlna's artwork unique is how the light reflects off the surface. An image can change dramatically depending on how the sun hits throughout the day. No two photographs of one of his paintings will ever be quite the same, he explained to Reuters TV, comparing the movement of the light to the movement of balls on a billiard table. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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