The Black statues have been shaping the appearance of Prague since the 1990s and are also dedicated to buildings

Prague - The business card of sculptor David Černý (the Prague city council today approved a change to the urban plan for the construction of a skyscraper near the Nové Butovice metro station, for which Černý is a co-author):

- The fifty-seven-year-old Černý is one of the most prominent figures in Czech visual culture, known for his provocative works; in recent years he has also been involved in architecture. He collaborated with the company Trigema, which is behind the Butovice skyscraper project, on a residential building called Fragment that was built in Prague's Invalidovna. The building, which was completed two years ago, is supported by a giant sculpture of a woman designed by Černý.

- In 2017, David Černý co-founded his own architectural studio Black n' Arch with architect Tomáš Císař. For Trigema, it designed the technology and information center Cyberdog at the Nové Butovice metro station, completed in 2018. Two years earlier, Černý's sculpture Trifot was unveiled in the same location. The Black n' Arch studio is also responsible for the current construction style in the Lihovar area of Prague's Zlíchov.

- Černý's works have sparked controversy practically from the beginning. For example, last year's installation of butterflies with the fuselages of Spitfire fighter planes on the Máj department store sparked discussions about whether such prominent elements belong in the center of Prague. Recently, the already completed building Fragment has faced criticism, and the project in Nové Butovice hasn't received unequivocal acclaim either, where an even taller structure representing a shipwreck is planned to support the 125-meter-high building.

- Born in Prague (December 15, 1967), Černý studied design and later sculpture at the AAAD in Prague (1988 to 1996), and also completed residencies in Switzerland (1991) and New York (1994 to 1996). He first gained significant attention as a student when he painted a tank pink that stood as a monument in Prague's Smíchov in 1991. The winner of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award from the year 2000 has also influenced the character of Prague’s public spaces with other projects.

- Among Černý's most famous works are the giant figures of toddlers placed on the Žižkov Television Tower. The babies originally were created for an installation on the Museum of Modern Art building in Chicago, and later appeared on various buildings around the world. Ten babies were temporarily installed on the Žižkov Tower as part of the Prague European City of Culture 2000 project. A year later, the sculptures, which can be seen up close in Kampa, returned permanently to the tower.

- At the turn of the 90s, Černý hung a horse upside down in the Lucerna Palace and placed St. Wenceslas on its belly; the sculpture remains there today. Since 2004, there has been a Peeing Fountain in Malá Strana, and a small square near the Quadrio complex above the Národní třída metro station has been adorned since 2014 with a moving eleven-meter sculpture of Franz Kafka's head. Černý's Pegasuses, part horse and part engine, in the new Prague district of Waltrovka also feature mechanical elements - rotating propellers.