Matúš Maťátko: Maťátkova knižnica

Matúš Matátko and book illustration belong inseparably together. Like salt to the sea, wind to the mountains, oily black earth to the fertile field. The mother is an element… Rough lines, often the colours of tricolour, an expressive shortcut to harsh pointe. His handwriting has inspired linocut, comics and street art. You can feel the artist’s admission that he is a printmaker at heart. The artistic language is recognizable at a glance. Thanks to it, Mátek’s world is perceived by young children and the oldest adults. Much of the credit for the author’s direction went to his teachers, at high school it was Miloš Kopták, at the academy it was Professor Dušan Kállay. “They showed me the power of line, the secret of mixing and contrasting colours; the magic of drawing, graphics, illustration,” he recalls. The road to the first book, however, was a long one. Although he studied illustration, he didn’t get the opportunity until years after college. Publishers were afraid of his illustrations. They thought they were scary.

They weren’t cute little pink-cheeked princesses or cuddly mommies with soft hugs. So his first illustrated title is the gritty story Jaro kriplů about disabled children on an adventure course where lives are on the line. The breakthrough, however, came with the children’s book The Airport Lapins. It was different, it was a success, it even won a prize in the The Most Beautiful Book of Slovakia competition. Since then, several titles illustrated by Mátko have been nominated in the competition. The book Presbyterian Legends Come to Life – a tribute to the work of the Slovak writer Maria Ďuríčková – provoked a special response.

Zatiaľ poslednou je kultová kniha Georgea Orwella Zvieracia farma. Matúš Maťátko sa venuje aj voľnému umeniu a jeho diela sa považujú za komentáre súčasného diania. Medzi nedávne výstavné projekty patria: Čas kostlivcov: Biela-Modrá-Červená Epopej, Cuprum Civitas a Zodiak. Súčasťou umeleckého prejavu autora sú aj realizácie vo verejnom priestore. Najznámejší murál je v Bratislave na Mariánskej ulici, dielo Anjeli má výšku 17 metrov. Zatiaľ posledný murál Ruka mieru vytvoril spoločne s Filipom Sabolom na Mahane Jehuda markete, najväčšom trhovisku v Jeruzaleme. Okrem Slovenska a Česka vystavoval v Izraeli, Spojenom kráľovstve, Belgicku, Bulharsku, Francúzsku, Japonsku, Číne a Indonézii.