Sráč Sam

The approaches and themes of contemporary engaged art to socio-economic problems, feminism, climate change and critical reflection on various aspects of globalized social and political systems have been developed for over thirty years in the work of the artist who performs under a gender-neutral pseudonym with a reference to her anarchist-punk past, Sráč Sam. Since the late 1980s, the artist's diverse artistic, curatorial, socially engaged and community work has followed practices that challenge established frameworks of society and culture, dismantling artificial constructs and seeking and opening up social issues, including feminist and queer issues, the role of women and the shape of the family, power relations and totalitarianism in society, social themes of inequality, care and protection, or the concept of constraint as an opportunity for growth. The exhibition aims to present the artist's work in painting, drawing, installation, textiles, text and ceramics in the context of her activist approach and life stance.

Sam lives with her family in Česká Bříza, where since the early 1990s she has been building a social and cultural independent space that is not publicly funded. Since 2006, she has run the Sam83 gallery there, focusing on contemporary art, and in 2013 she and her family self-built a studio with space to accommodate artists invited for a short residency. In 2018, she had a solo exhibition at the Prague City Gallery, and in 2021/2022 she and her long-time collaborator Denisa Bytelová prepared a series of curated exhibitions at the Kurzor Gallery in Prague.