Jakub Tomáš

Jakub Tomáš exuberant paintings are based on sculpture and collage, using cardboard models and theatrical lighting to generate enigmatic or absurdist scenes. Disturbingly flattened faces are painted within illusively familiar environments, and friendly robots sometimes join gatherings. His paintings are off kilter, and there is a palpable awkwardness in the relationships between figures, whose faces sometimes seem to be masks. Tomáš, inspired by Cubism, builds maquettes and collages fragments of internet-sourced imagery to create more recognizable figures. A history of Czech claymation, puppetry, and folk art anchors the richness of figurative approaches, and the sense of a marionette’s clunky movements. The work’s forebears include the slightly out of sync timelines of Neo Rauch, harshly plotted limbs of Max Beckman and the Expressionists, and adherents of contemporary surreal figuration such as Tal R and Dana Schutz. 

Tomáš was born in Jihlava, Czech Republic, where he lives and works. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, and studied previously at the University of West Bohemia and the Institute of Art and Design in Plzeň, CZ. Recent solo exhibitions include The Cabin, LA and Galerie města Plzně; as well as in Oblastní Galerie Vysočiny, Jihlava; Stage Garden Gallery; Městská Galerie; Galerie Václava Špály, Prague; Nová Galerie, Prague; and NEVAN CONTEMPO, Prague. Group exhibitions include BEERS London, UK. Tomáš recently completed a residency with Danny First at The Bunker in Los Angeles, CA.