The Czechs have just taken on the EU presidency, and when you take over that position one of the first things you are required to do in celebration is break out the public art. So David Černý, the zany yet still kinda smart Czech sculptor who's Europe's less (un-?)cool version of Damien Hirst—he parodied that creepy shark and floated Saddam in formaldehyde—was given a £350,000 commission to sum up the theme "Europe without barriers" in a major new piece. When he announced that he'd secured 27 different artists from separate EU countries to partake in his massive EU-sponsored public art project about national stereotypes, Europe believed him. But Europe's naïve like that.
Advertisement
Advertisement
