appreciating local artists

Dear Em,

Your daddy & I are not ones to spend a lot of time visiting art museums...or galleries. Staring at art & trying to decipher what it means to me & what it meant to the artist is just not really my cup of tea. Furthermore, when we were loosely planning our trip to Prague, we had decided not to spend a whole lot of time inside museums. We wanted to be outside experiencing Prague rather than being inside looking at pictures of it (although we did really enjoy the Museum of Communism). With that said, it surprised me that one of the things I wanted to do most was check out the work of a local artist.

It started when I browsed Time Travel's Prague: 10 Things to Do. Thing Number 8 pictured sculptures of giant crawling babies. I laughed & was intrigued. I wanted to see giant babies.

What do you think? Should we have taken some Babies home with us? David Cerny is the controversial Czech sculptor behind the babies. His works also include a baby crawling up a tower, two men peeing in the street, a statue of St. Wenceslas riding a dead horse, a statue of Sigmund Freud hanging off a building by one hand, & Brownnosers (where vistiors climb ladders to peer into the backsides of two statues & watch videos of an actor who resembles President Vaclav Klaus eat baby food). Cerny is the countries most famous sculptor, probably due to the fact his work both amuses & offends the public.

The Babies, appearing outside of Prague's Museum Kampa, were the only sculptures we saw by Cerny while we were there. They absolutely amused me, & I also liked that we could enjoy them outside. Just beyond the Babies was a beautiful view of the Vltava river & Charles Bridge. Within walking distance is Petrin Hill, a beautiful park with a miniature Eiffel Tower, a mirror maze, & the Church of St. Michael. True to it's name, Petrin Hill is one giant hill. Since we had walked around ten miles a day everyday we were in Prague (& this was our last day), we decided to forgo hiking the hill & just admired the Eiffel Tower from afar.

The penguins light up at night.

I can say without a doubt, I truly enjoyed the artwork in Prague & there was art everywhere we looked. Whether it was the beauty in the details of the ancient buildings or in the controversy of modern sculptures, I loved it all.

I love you so,

Mommy