Tom Samek
Encyclopedia
Tom Samek is a Czech artist living and working in Australia.
He is a painter, stage designer and printmaker.

Life and work

Tom Samek was born in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. He moved to Germany and Switzerland in 1969, then Austria the following year and Australia in 1971. In 1972 he studied printmaking with Eric Smodic in Austria for a year, then returned to Australia the following year. He settled in Tasmania.
In 1997, he painted a mural in the foyer of the School of Engineering at the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...

.

Samek's largest, and perhaps finest, work is Flawed History of Tasmanian Wine, a floor mural in in a gallery above the tasting room of the Meadowbank Estate winery and restaurant in Tasmania. The floor is painted, carved and etched in Samek's "unique style", and integrated with his friend Graeme Phillips' comic and nonsense poetry. The work was finished in December 2005, half of the $160,000 cost being met by the Federal Government.

In 2009, he returned to the University of Tasmania School of Englineering to create a mosaic mural, featuring names of notable engineers, and staff and students. It was unveiled during the 50th anniversary celebration of the school.

Samek makes prints, including etchings, which "revel in the indulgences of food and drink." He adopts a whimsical view of Australian customs and language, at one time concentrating on faces and wine glasses, and in 2006 focusing on parrots as subject matter.

He lives and works in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

, Tasmania.

Collections

Samek's work is represented in the Australian National Gallery, South Australian Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Auckland City Gallery, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Australia Council, and Artbank.

See also

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