From protest icon to 3D-printed artwork. Created by Czech visual artist David Černý in collaboration with Prusa Research, one of the world’s leading 3D printer manufacturers, this exhibition explores the story of Prague’s Pink Tank of 1991 alongside some of the artist’s best-known sculptures from the 1990s.
Without exaggeration, 35 years ago, in 1991, a new era of Czech visual art began. Artist David Černý painted a Soviet tank bright pink. Legend has it he did it for a girl – but this story is far from an uncomplicated love tale.
At the centre of the exhibition is Soviet Tank No. 23, once prominently displayed in Prague, erected to commemorate the liberation of Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War. Over time, however, it came to symbolise Soviet expansionism and, after 1968, the real occupation by tanks sent from Moscow to Czechoslovakia.
As part of the London Design Festival, Czech Centre London presents David Černý’s iconic work and its story with interesting twists and turns in a new printed edition – quite literally. The artist has teamed up with the innovative Czech company Prusa Research, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of 3D printers, to create a 3D-printed model of the Pink Tank.
The sculpture itself captures the optimism of the newly regained freedom of the early 1990s while bringing Černý’s trademark humour and sense of absurdity into an important debate about public space. It reflects a specific Central European experience and creates an interesting dialogue with the British one. What we cannot unsee is how it casts the shadow of threats that have once again become relevant today.
Alongside the Pink Tank, the exhibition will feature other works by David Černý, recipient of international and Czech art awards, whom the BBC named among the world’s most provocative visual artists. Don’t miss, for example, Cerny’s take on St Wenceslas statue, depicting the Czech patron saint well known to the British public from the popular English carol Good King Wenceslas, also presented as a 3D print.
Prusa Research, represents new chapters of Czech innovation and creativity. Today a global technological company started as a garage start-up in 2012 in Prague. This exhibition will showcase the possibilities of 3D printing in contemporary art, demonstrating how this rapidly evolving technology is opening new creative possibilities for artists and designers too. In 2025, Josef Prusa, the founder of Prusa Research, received the Czech Presidential Medal of Merit for his contributions to the economy, popularizing 3D printing and making the technology globally accessible.
- EXHIBITION DATES: 12 September – 31 December 2026
- VENUES & OPENING TIMES Vitrínka Gallery, Czech Centre London
30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
Opening hours: Tue – Fri 10am – 5pm
Sat 12 Sep, Sun 13 Sep, Mon 14 Sep, Sat 19 Sep and Sun 20 Sep: 11:00 – 17:00Public space outside of the Czech Embassy, London
26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4RT
Accessible 24/7
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