David Černý was born in Prague, Czech Republic and studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s after finishing studies at a special electronics high school and having been rejected twice from the Academy. Černý entered the industrial design program at the Academy so as to avoid “communist” requirements for sculpture. A non-conformist from the beginning, Černý gained local notoriety by painting pink a Soviet-era tank that served as a war memorial in Czechoslovakia’s capital city of Prague since 1945 to symbolize liberation after WWII. This was considered an act of hooliganism and Černý was arrested and briefly detained. Throughout his career, Černý has worked in a variety of media, including street performance art and film, but he is best known for his thought-provoking, often controversial, outdoor sculptures. This is in addition to the artist’s sometimes outrageous behavior in public.
