by Chris McMorrow

Art has long been cultural ground zero for contrast and controversy, and the work of Czech-Canadian sculptor Lea Vivot is no different. Known internationally for her benched bronze figures depicting motifs of women and the family, her subjects range from the sacred to the profane, depending on which free magazines you regularly pick up in Prague. One person's humanity is another's vulgarity.

I recently stumbled upon Vivot's work on a post-holiday trip to the doctor, and was struck by her sculpture, “Unity”, positioned at the front door of the Canadian Medical Center in Prague 6. Seated here since 2006, two bronze figures - a young Canadian girl engrossed in the Montreal Daily and an African reading his Malawi Citizen - sit side-by-side on a wooden bench. Inscribed on the bench are the words "In our differences we unite."

The humanity inherent in this piece beautifully blasts apart any imagined barriers. At the same time, Vivot's dual intentions – to place sculptures in corresponding settings, and to invite viewers to participate - makes this piece's current home a natural one.

Over the course of a long and prolific forty-year career, Vivot has displayed her work in countless locations across the globe. Her work has not always been received gracefully. however. A nude man and woman passionately clutching each other next to a partially-clothed woman on a bench proved to be too much love for some. Originally rejected by Toronto city officials in 1979, eighteen years later the provocative “Bench of Love” reportedly startled enough mid-town Manhattanites to bring about its removal. Interestingly, her “Bench of Vice,” which offers a graphic portrayal of a young woman's vagina, has not incurred any such reaction among visitors to Sazka Arena.

Vivot's stimulus is the human condition itself, and she conveys its extremes of strength and fragility in each sculpture she creates. Her sculptures serve as symbols of a humanity dominated by social and material contingencies. If it is raw anatomy that makes these intimate moments of love and life possible, why keep them crouched behind the bedroom door?

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