Sam Bloor
“The democratic nature of text is what draws me to it. Nearly everyone knows how to read a sign. … My work is trying to navigate and understand our place in public space too, so it just made sense that text was a great medium to explore that in.”
- Sam Bloor
Sam Bloor is a visual artist and photographer based in Fremantle whose work explores the politics of public space, labour and visibility. Drawing on his background as a traditional signwriter, he creates bold, text-based installations and contemplative photographic works that mimic the language of commercial signage while critiquing social and political structures.
His large-scale public artworks feature ambiguous, hand-rendered phrases such as 'that sinking feeling' and 'illegal bodies', designed to disrupt everyday environments and prompt reflection. The tension between advertising aesthetics and activist messaging lies at the heart of Bloor’s practice, which combines craft, critique, and public intervention.
A graduate of Curtin University, Bloor has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally. Major projects include That Sinking Feeling, which was commissioned for Perth Festival and presented at the Fremantle Arts Centre, and his ongoing video series Line Drawings, which was recently shown at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. His work has been featured in the Fremantle Print Award, the Rotterdam Photo Festival and Totem in Tribute.
His work is held in public and private collections, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Through deceptively simple gestures, he challenges viewers to reconsider the messages and materials that shape our built environment.
Image: Artist’s Instagram
About the Artist
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Born 1987, lives and works in Fremantle
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Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
09/06 , Kolbusz Space, WA2022
That sinking feeling, Install for Perth Festival , Fremantle, WA2020
The best of my bad days , Linton & Kay Galleries, Subiaco, WA
The birth and death of a mountain , Kolbusz Space, WA
ECHOES , Fremantle, WA2019
The Billboard Project , Fremantle Biennale, Fremantle, WA
Both Ends of the Splinter , The Lobby, Swanbourne, WA
HOLD ON , Stala Contemporary, Perth, WA2018
More News From Nowhere , Blank Space Gallery, Fremantle, WA2017
It Could Be Worth $1000 , Smart Casual, Fremantle, WA2016
Totem In Tribute , Spectrum Gallery Space, Edinburgh, UK
Selected Group Shows
2023
City of Rockingham Art Awards , Rockingham, WA2022
Undertow , Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA2021
Hack My Cage , Atelier 35, Bucharest, Romania2019
Rotterdam Photo Festival , Netherlands
IRIS , Perth Centre for Photography, WA2018
Australian Print Triennial , Mildura, VIC
Heathcote Select , Heathcote Gallery, WA
Fremantle Print Award , Fremantle Arts Centre, WA2017
Gippsland Print Award , Gippsland Art Gallery, VIC
Royal Show Landscape Art Prize , RASWA Gallery, WA
A Space Between , Paper Mountain ARI, WA
Kalgoorlie Boulder Art Prize , Kalgoorlie Regional Gallery, WA
Midwest Art Prize , Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, WA2016
Fremantle Print Award , Fremantle Arts Centre, WA
RYBG , Brand X Studio, Sydney, NSW2010
Graffimenco , Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, UK
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Books
2021
An hour until the apocalypse, Edition of 13 produced for the Melbourne Art Book Fair2020
Dumb for your love, Edition of 502018
More News From Nowhere, Edition of 50
Awards
2019
Works on Paper, Melville Art Awards2017
Best Print In Show, Kalgoorlie Boulder Art Prize
Best Work On Paper, City of South Perth Emerging Artist Award2016
First Prize, Fremantle Print Award
Collections
City of Melville Art Collection
City of Stirling Art Collection
City of Fremantle Art Collection
Works by the Artist
From an edition of 25 prints
30 x 30cm