Tom Samek (11 March 1950 – October 2021) [1] [2] was a Czech artist who lived and worked in Australia. [3] He was a painter, stage designer and printmaker. [1]
Tom Samek was born in Prague, Czech Republic. [1] He moved to Germany and Switzerland in 1969, then Austria the following year and Australia in 1971. [3] In 1972 he studied printmaking with Eric Smodic in Austria for a year, then returned to Australia the following year. [3] He settled in Tasmania. [4]
In 1997, he painted a mural in the foyer of the School of Engineering at the University of Tasmania. [5]
Samek's largest, and perhaps finest, [6] work is Flawed History of Tasmanian Wine, a floor mural in a gallery above the tasting room of the Meadowbank Estate winery and restaurant in Tasmania. [6] The floor is painted, carved and etched in Samek's "unique style", [6] and integrated with his friend Graeme Phillips' comic and nonsense poetry. [6] The work was finished in December 2005, half of the $160,000 cost being met by the Federal Government. [6]
In 2009, he returned to the University of Tasmania School of Engineering 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. [7]
Samek made prints, including etchings, which "revel in the indulgences of food and drink." [8] He adopted 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. [9]
In the latter part of his life, he was based in Hobart, Tasmania. [10] He died in October 2021 after a long battle with motor neurone disease. [2] [11]
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. [10]