Czech painter Roman Tyc uses human ashes in his paintings

September 29th, 2011 - 12:11 am ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Prague, Sept 28 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Renowned Czech painter Roman Tyc has caused quite a stir after he opened an exhibition of his works that have human ashes. The exhibition was opened on Tuesday at the city center of Prague.

The introduction text of the exhibition which was written by Tyc reads, “When you’re six and your mum dies, you see her as a metal urn and know her only from photographs for the rest of your life, you believe there’s a way to free her from the can.”

The 37-year-old made 19 portraits using the ashes of his mother. The director of the Dvorak Sec Contemporary art gallery told reporters that the exhibition is in honor of Tyc’s mother. The exhibition is has the title “Grave Robber”.

The paintings will not be sold, the gallery says. In 2007, Tyc was jailed for a month in Prague after he changed “Walk” and “Don’t Walk” signs at about 50 traffic lights in the city. He replaced those signs with images of people jumping and urinating. The action though got him a prize at the Vienna art festival.

The gallery where the exhibition is going to take place says there is nothing controversial about the use of human ashes in artwork. They revealed that human ashes were used by the country’s artists in the 1960s.

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