Voitre Marek

Voitre Marek (30 May 1919 – 27 November 1999), also known as Vojtěch Marek, was an Australian artist. He was born in Czechoslovakia and lived in South Australia from 1949. He is known for his surrealist style and religious art, in particular sculptures, some of which are held in churches around Australia.

Life in Czechoslovakia Voitre Marek was born on 30 May 1919 in Bítouchov, Czechoslovakia, the eldest of three brothers, to parents Vojtěch Marek and his wife Hermína, née Schinovská.

Voitre became an apprentice to a metal engraver in 1935, before going to study at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts between 1939 and 1944, where he met his future wife, Věra Podpěrová. After this he worked as a freelance sculptor from his own studio, and won prizes for his works in 1946 and 1947. and later gave Marek his first solo exhibition. During this time most of Marek's output was small drawings and prints, in a surrealist style which has been likened to Jean Arp. which was automated and de-staffed in 1957. They then moved to the Troubridge Island Lighthouse, where they stayed until 1960. During this period of isolation he had a religious epiphany, which marked a change in direction in his work. His style blended surrealism with Byzantine and Romanesque features.

The 1966 Adelaide Festival of Arts included a solo exhibition of his work.

New Gallery of Fine Art

As mentioned above, Voitre became director leading to a space above the Trocadero Cafe. The gallery, unusually for Adelaide, opened on weekday evenings, as well as daytimes Monday to Saturday, and had permanent displays as well as time-limited solo and group exhibitions.

The inaugural exhibition at the New Gallery showcased the paintings of George Matthews (born 1924 in Kent Town ), who had sketched small drawings in places such as Ceylon, Port Said and London.

The second exhibition was of the work of Francis Roy Thompson (1896–1966 ), described as a "well-known artist", who painted scenes from nature in South Australia. Thompson, who settled in Adelaide in 1948, also known as Frank Roy or F.R. Thompson, was known as a flouter of convention and one of the more eccentric modernist post-war architects.

Voitre Marek had his first solo exhibition at the gallery.

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