David Cerny's Prague — A Guide to the City's Weirdest Art

David Cerny is the Czech Republic's most controversial living artist, and Prague is his gallery. His sculptures sit on rooftops, hang from buildings, crawl up towers and urinate on the Senate. They are provocative, politically charged, occasionally offensive and impossible to walk past without stopping. In a city defined by Gothic spires and Baroque facades, Cerny's work is the irreverent counterweight — Prague's way of reminding you it has a sense of humour.

This guide maps every major Cerny sculpture in Prague, with locations, backstories and the controversies that made each one famous.

The Babies — Zizkov Television Tower

Location: Mahlerovy sady, Zizkov (metro Jiriho z Podebrad, Line A)

Ten giant bronze babies crawl up and down the Zizkov TV Tower — Prague's most divisive building. The tower itself, a 216-metre concrete needle built in the 1980s, was voted the second-ugliest building in the world by various polls. Cerny's babies, installed in 2000, were meant to be temporary. They stayed.

Each baby is roughly 3.5 metres long, featureless — their faces are smooth with a slot where features should be. The effect is simultaneously cute and unsettling, which is precisely the point. Three additional babies sit at ground level in the park around the tower base, where visitors can examine them up close.

Insider detail: The babies were originally installed in 2000 for a temporary exhibition. Public opinion was divided — some hated them, some loved them. When they were removed, people complained about their absence more than they had about their presence. They were reinstalled permanently in 2001. The tower itself has an observation deck and a one-room hotel at the top.

Hanging Man — Husova Street

Location: Husova street, near Betlemske namesti, Old Town

Look up while walking along Husova street and you'll see a man hanging by one hand from a pole, high above the street, seeming to dangle over the void. The life-size figure represents Sigmund Freud — the father of psychoanalysis depicted at the moment of existential crisis.

The sculpture is called "Man Hanging Out" (Visici muz) and was installed in 1997. The figure's casual posture — one hand gripping the beam, the other hand in his pocket — creates a tension between danger and nonchalance. Is he about to fall? Does he care?

Insider detail: The sculpture is easy to miss if you're not looking up — it's mounted high between buildings. The best viewing angle is from the middle of Husova street, looking east. At night, when spotlit, the shadow it casts on the adjacent building adds a dramatic dimension.

Horse — Lucerna Passage

Location: Lucerna Palace passage, Stepanska 61, off Wenceslas Square

Inside the Lucerna Palace arcade — a passage connecting Vodickova street to Wenceslas Square — hangs an with a rider on its belly. This is Cerny's response to the St. Wenceslas equestrian statue that stands at the top of Wenceslas Square.