Michal Č. Šembera

Michal Čeloud Šembera (*1987, Brno) is a Czech sculptor and ceramicist. He says of himself that he has been a ceramicist all his life, but that the heart beating in his chest has always been a sculptor’s.

Education: the Secondary School of Applied Arts for Ceramics in Bechyně — artistic working of ceramics and porcelain (2002–2006); the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice — psychology (2009–2011); the Technical University of Liberec — pedagogy (2011–2013); the Integrated School in Cheb — hand blacksmithing (2013–2014); the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Sculpture I studio (Lukáš Rittstein), from 2014; a placement in the painting studio at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (winter semester 2016); a placement at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Stockholm (summer semester 2018).

Work experience: apprenticeship with the potters and sculptors Ivan Egon Werner (2002–2014), Ralf Naundorf, Germany (2004–2005) and Jaroslava Blahníková (2006–2007); teacher and head of the art department at a school of arts in Prague (2008–2013); master of the AMANO ceramics workshop in Prague (since 2014); ceramics designer and modeller for Cindy Koehring, USA (since 2015).

Memberships: Union of Fine Artists of Karlovy Vary (since 2006), AMi (since 2011). In 2016 he was nominated for the Josef Hlávka Foundation prize in the artistic category. Technically his work is marked by clarity and care; in content, by a need to grasp time as a medium.

Materials: resin, steel, fibreglass, galvanised metal, polystyrene, stucco, concrete, clay, silicone, tin, electromagnets and mini computers (kinetic and interactive objects).

Exhibitions (selection): Avalon Business Center, Plzeň (2008); On a Visit, Brömse Gallery, Františkovy Lázně (2011); Grenzenlos, Marktredwitz (DE) and Grenzenlos II, Mende (FR), Us and You, the Třeboň town hall tower (2012); Think = Thing, Brömse Gallery, Františkovy Lázně, Bosom Energy, Na Ochoze Gallery, Karlovy Vary, the Cheb Courtyards (2013); Banquet, the Church of St Clare, Cheb (2014); the Skrz na Skrz festival, Prague Rooms IV, Give Me a Fixed Point and I Will Move the Universe, Hraničář Gallery, Ústí nad Labem (2015); Contrasts, Gallery Scarabeus, Prague, Prague Now, the Clam-Gallas Palace (2016); VáclavART, Wenceslas Square, Prague — The Stoptime, resin and steel (2017), and again in 2018 and 2019; Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (2018); Figurama 2019, Hybernský kolektiv, Prague; the Art in the City sculpture symposium 2022 — the work Fruits; Art in the City 2024, České Budějovice — The Civilised.