BIOGRAPHY
1947 - Born August 15 in Humpolec, Czech republic.
1962-1966 - Graduated from the College of Ceramic Arts in Bechyne, Czech republic where he became interested in sculpture, completing portraits (busts) of private personalities.
1968 - Worked as a ceramic designer. During the same period, he participated in a number of shows and competitions and also produced works for major institutions. One of these works was a collection of abstract ceramic objects designed for the office of the President of the State, Ludvik Svoboda.
1971-1977 - Earned his Masters degree in Academic Sculpture from the University of Art and Design in Prague.
1981 - Came to Canada and settled with his family in Toronto-Mississauga.
1983-1984 - Created portraits (busts) of several principal dancers of the National Ballet of Canada including VERONICA TENNANT, YOKO ICHINO, TOMAS SCHRAMEK, HAZAROS SURMEYAN, PETER OTTMANN, LINDA MAYBARDUK, and pianist MARY McDONALD, working directly with the dancers.
1984-1985 - These portraits sculptures were exhibited at the O'Keefe Centre and during the show, Vondrejs was commissioned to work on busts of MR. WALLING RUBY and MRS. RUTH WHELER.
1985 - When Natalia Makarova was concluding her dancing career, Vondrejs exhibited a figure sculpture of the dancer titled WALKING DANCER, together with a figure of Yoko Ichino, COMPONENTS, again at the O’Keefe Centre.
1986 - Created sculptures WILD HORSE and FOAL.
1986-1987 - Vondrejs was commissioned by Dr. Hugh Scully to work on a sculpture of his wife, Vanessa Harwood, principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada, THE SWAN and SWAN QUEEN.
1988 - The sculpture VERONICA was created. It is a figure of Miss Tennant from the ballet “Canciones”. (Limited edition of eight was sold out in three months.)
1988-1989 - When Miss Tennant announced her retirement from the National Ballet of Canada, Vondrejs started to work on a new commemorative piece titled Juliet (from Romeo and Juliet), which was exhibited in wax form at the O`Keefe Centre and received much media attention. On both pieces, "Veronica" and "Juliet", Vondrejs worked directly with the dancer.
1989 - The artist opened his first solo exhibition at the Harbour Gallery in Port Credit- Mississauga. Eight new works were exhibited: THE VIEW, MONICA, LADY IN WAITING, FEAR, RECLINING WOMAN, ANGUISH, FRENCH LADY and STANDING FIGURE. The artist then completed another sculpture of Veronica Tennant: DILEMMA.
