Tomáš Libertíny

In 2001, he won a scholarship from the George Soros Open Society Institute and went to the University of Washington, Seattle, where he studied painting and sculpture; in 2004, received his BFA from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava; and, in 2006, his MFA from the Design Academy Eindoven, The Netherlands. In 2007 he founded the Studio Libertíny in Rotterdam, dedicated to studying new artistic techniques and design strategies that explore the relationship between art and science. In the same year, exhibited Honeycomb Vase at the Salone del Mobile, Milan, introducing the concept of “slow prototyping”-a technique where the artist uses honeybees to create physical objects-and the theme of the contrast between nature and human intervention. He has written a series of critical essays, drawing inspiration from sources, such as Freud and Lipovetsk, that gathered his thoughts on the creation of a work of art. His works are in the permanent collections of world-class museums including MoMA and Corning Glass Museum, New York; the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. He has participated in important international events such as Design Miami/Basel (2008, 2009), as well as Glasstress events in Venice (2011, 2013, 2015); and in Glassfever, Dordrecht (2016), The Netherlands. He was named Designer of the Future at Design Miami/Basel (2009), won the Dutch Design Award (2009) and the Wallpaper* Design Award (2010).