Tomáš Medek

Tomáš Medek was born on 1 March 1969 in Brno. He is a sculptor and university teacher. He trained as a wood and metal patternmaker (1983–1987), then studied furniture design at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Brno (1987–1990). He took his bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology (1992–1996) and his master’s in 1997–1998 under Professor Vladimír Preclík. In 1997 he studied sculpture at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada (under Professors John Greer and Robin Peck). Since 1998 he has worked at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Brno in the sculpture studio (since 2008 in Michal Gabriel’s Sculpture Studio 1); he is an associate professor, vice-dean and head of the 3D Technologies Department, and since 2010 has led the 3D studio attached to the sculpture studio. The central subject of his work is structures, from which he makes objects of perfect craftsmanship and considered concept.

His work developed from large moving wooden constructions (“Machines”, after 1992) through objects inspired by the plant world to geometric sculptures made of circular segments; since 2005 he has been among the pioneers of sculptural modelling and 3D printing (the “Nature (bio) Insights” series, works in composite materials and plastics). He also makes large-format digital prints on canvas.

Awards: 1st prize in the European competition for monumental sculpture ART is STEEL in Reims (2007, the sculpture Uroboros), 1st prize in the Sculptures for Brno competition (a design for a monument to T. A. Edison), a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, New York (2003), the Rector’s Prize of Brno University of Technology for teaching (2000). His work “spoon cube” (2000) at the Trade Fair Palace in Prague is well known. He is represented in the collections of the Nova Scotia Art Gallery in Halifax, the National Gallery in Prague, the collection of contemporary art in Mikulov and in private collections.