Prague Art Scavenger Hunt

While researching things to do in Prague, Dan came across an artist- David Cerny- who had multiple works around the city. Cerny's work is known as a bit bizarre and different. We tried one day to find the most interesting piece that was on the far end of the city, but we never found it. So on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Dan and I researched all Cerny pieces around Prague and set out on a scavenger hunt.

Our first stop was to see Brown Noser- a sculpture of legs and a rear end coming out of the side of a museum. There is a ladder along the legs that you climb to view a very weird video inside of the bum. The video is of two people dressed as former leaders eating baby food set to the tune of We Are the Champions. No explanation. Just weird, but funny at the same time.

This piece is part of the Futura Gallery which was actually an amazing little art space. We saw a documentary there of Hurrican Katrina from the perspective of an art student whose grandmother is a LA native. Very interesting to see American issues through the eyes of a European artist and activist.

The second stop was to see the statues of Babies at the Museum Kampa. The babies are huge, but their faces are blank with just bars from the top of the head to the chin. I know I keep saying this, but there really is no way to emphasize just how different this art was. We did have a great time wandering all over the city and seeing each piece though.

The third stop was the Art School near the Charles Bridge called Amoya. In the courtyard of the building there are 4 large pistols hanging upside down. These were also done by David Cerny. While there we saw another exhibit by Cerny that we didn't know about- a man in a fish tank type coffin. 

Near the Castle in front of the Kafka Museum, Cerny created this sculpture/water fountain. Considered one of his most humorous pieces, "Piss" shows two men urinating on the Czech Republic. They turn from left to right and if you text a special number a message they can apparently write your message out. 

Next we walked through Old Town Prague to find the statue of Freud hanging by one hand off of a post over a pub. It is said that Cerny showed Freud this way to signify his constant struggle with his fear of death. Others believe that Cerny was questioning the status quo. The Open Concept Gallery says, "Man Hanging out is a fine example of the reason why Cerny is considered a leading sculptor and pop-culture icon."

Lastly, we stopped at a shopping center near the center of the city that houses Cerny's statue of Wenceslas and his dead horse. The horse is hanging upside down from the ceiling and Wenceslas is sitting upright on the horses' torso. The piece is said to be an attack on the Czech President, who is a fairly common target for Cerny.

Overall this was a great day adventure seeing an "off the beaten path" Prague. David Cerny is quite popular and controversial in the Czech Republic and across Europe. We really enjoyed the day- mostly because it was basically a scavenger hunt of weird art, but also because we aren't huge art people so this gave a humorous side to seeing art.