Richard Zaloudek

Richard Zaloudek (b. 1948) is a Czech–Australian artist based in Sydney, whose practice spans painting, assemblage, and mixed media. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague before leaving Czechoslovakia during the 1968 Prague Spring and settling in Australia. His artistic career has been shaped by a fascination with transformation and material processes, and his work explores metamorphosis, material flow, and perception.

In 1976, Zaloudek held his first sold-out solo exhibition Erotic Surrealism at Holdsworth Galleries, Woollahra, which established him as an artist of note. Alongside his studio practice, he pursued an extensive career in animation, working as Head of the Background Department at Hanna-Barbera Studios in Sydney and contributing to major international productions for Disney and Don Bluth Studios. His credits include Lady and the Tramp II, All Dogs Go to Heaven II, and the cult television series Ren & Stimpy. This dual career enriched his art with a cinematic sensibility, blending painterly surfaces with an atmospheric depth.

Zaloudek’s works emerge from the textures of earth and time—decay, weathering, and transformation—as metaphors for growth and renewal. His recent series Osmosis invites viewers to reflect on the porous exchanges between nature, memory, and the inner world. Over the past decades, his work has been exhibited widely and recognised in major Australian art prizes, including the Mosman Art Prize, Hornsby Art Prize, and the Calleen Art Award.