Matúš Maťátko and book illustration are inseparable, like salt and the sea, wind and the mountains and black soil and fertile fields. Maťátko is an element... Thick lines, often the colors of the tricolor, an expressive shortcut to a rough point. His style has inspired linocut, comics and street art. At heart, he is a graphic artist, and his visual language is recognizable at first glance. As a result, Maťátko’s world is perceived by young and old. Naturally, some of the credit goes to his teachers, Miloš Kopták at secondary school, professor Dušan Kállay at the academy, who in the artist’s own words, “showed me the power of the line, the secret of mixing and contrasting colors, and the magic of drawing, prints, and illustration.”
However, the path to his first book was long. After graduating with a degree in illustration, it took years before he was given the opportunity to demonstrate his skills. This was certainly due to the fact that publishers were wary of his drawings and prints which did not feature cute princesses with red cheeks or friendly teddy bears. His first illustrated book, Jaro kriplů (Spring of the Cripples, Daniel Rušar, Paskuda books) is about physically disabled children on a treacherous adventure course. Maťátko’s crude yet sensitive drawings fit in naturally, as if they were asking questions.
The turning point came with the children’s book Lapinovci z letiska (The Lapin Family from the Airport). It was different, and successful, and even won the Most Beautiful Book of Slovakia prize. Since then, several titles that Maťátko illustrated have been nominated in the competition. Prešporské legendy ožívajú (Prešporok Legends Come to Life, Andrej Csino and Lucia Lackovičová, Litera production), which is a tribute to the work of the Slovak writer Mária Ďuríčková, has received an extraordinary response.
Most recently he did the illustrations for Animal Farm (George Orwell, SnowMouse publishing). His work there featured the use of red and blue because of the striking contrast of these colors on white paper. His use of the tricolor has always been one of the characteristics of his work in general, but as he stated, “Those colors are on the flags of Slovakia, Russia and the USA, which give the illustrations new context today. The story is a parody of the totalitarianism and Stalinism of the past, but read it now! Orwell is still alive, relevant, and haunting.
His illustrations from these and other books, such as Červený vírus a kučeravý Sebastián (The Red Virus and Curly Sebastian, Ivana Auxtová, Perfekt) and Kocúr, ktorý chcel byť drakom (The Puss Who Wanted to Be a Dragon, Viktória Laurent-Škrabalová, Elist), are on display right here at the retrospective exhibition MAŤÁTKOVA KNIŽNICA/MAŤÁTKO’S LIBRARY at the Danubiana modern art museum.
Matúš Maťátko is also involved in free art. His works are considered comments on current events, and his paintings Sľúbili sme si lásku (We Promised Love), Memento, Viribus Unitis and Tanec smrti (Dance of Death) still evoke strong responses. His recent exhibition projects include: Čas kostlivcov: Biela-Modrá-Červená Epopej (Skeleton Time: White-Blue-Red Epic), Cuprum Civitas: Lesk a bieda medeného mesta (Cuprum Civitas: The Shine and Poverty of the Copper City) and Zodiak (Zodiac). Maťátko’s creations also include implementations in public spaces. Anjeli (Angels), the 17-meter mural on Mariánska Street in Bratislava, is his most famous, while Ruka mieru (Hand of Peace), his most recent large-scale mural, was created together with Filip Sabol at the Mahane Jehuda Market, the largest marketplace in Jerusalem.
He has exhibited in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Israel, Great Britain, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Japan, China, and Indonesia.
Jakub Prokeš
Matúš Maťátko (1984) is one of the most prominent Slovak illustrators and artists of the middle generation. His artistic scope ranges from prints and illustration, free creation, painting, objects and sculptures, to large-scale installations in public spaces (murals). He is also involved in design, poster design, advertisements, and building corporate identity through graphics and other visual elements. He is also a teacher of painting-graphics at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica.
He studied free graphics and illustration under the leadership of Prof. Dušan Kállay from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava and participated in art internships and residencies in Bulgaria (Sofia), France (Paris), Belgium (Antwerp) and Indonesia (Bali). He lives and works in Bratislava.
Instagram: @matatko.matus
