Matko Vekić
Encyclopedia
Matko Vekić was born in 1970 in Zagreb
, Croatia
. He is a contemporary Croatian artist working in the medium of painting. He lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia.
Vekić uses diverse everyday motifs (cars, a rat and a goldfish, insects, traffic interchanges and bridges, relays and transmission lines, women terrorists and body builders, football players and models) to problematise and address the irony the state of contemporary society. From 1996 to 1999 he worked as a lecturer of drawing and painting at the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb, and from 1999 to 2003 he was a teaching assistant (later assistant professor) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Široki Brijeg, University of Mostar
. From 2007 he has been an assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb.
He has had many solo exhibitions in Croatia and abroad, including Gallery Nova (Zagreb, 1996), Art Gallery (Split, 2003) and Art Pavilion (Zagreb, 2005). Together with Nikola Koydl and Zoltan Novak, he was the Croatian representative at the Venice Biennale
in 2009. His works belong to many museum and gallery collections, including the Modern Gallery in Zagreb, the Art Gallery Collection in Spilt and the Erste Bank Collection. He has received several awards, including the annual Filip Trade Award (Zagreb, 2003) and the annual Croatian Association of Artists for Young Painters (Zagreb, 2002).
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. He is a contemporary Croatian artist working in the medium of painting. He lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia.
Vekić uses diverse everyday motifs (cars, a rat and a goldfish, insects, traffic interchanges and bridges, relays and transmission lines, women terrorists and body builders, football players and models) to problematise and address the irony the state of contemporary society. From 1996 to 1999 he worked as a lecturer of drawing and painting at the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb, and from 1999 to 2003 he was a teaching assistant (later assistant professor) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Široki Brijeg, University of Mostar
University of Mostar
The University of Mostar is the only Croatian language university in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Roots of University of Mostar date back to 1895 when the Franciscan theological school was established. In 1950 Higher teacher-training school started with its work in Mostar...
. From 2007 he has been an assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb.
He has had many solo exhibitions in Croatia and abroad, including Gallery Nova (Zagreb, 1996), Art Gallery (Split, 2003) and Art Pavilion (Zagreb, 2005). Together with Nikola Koydl and Zoltan Novak, he was the Croatian representative at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 2009. His works belong to many museum and gallery collections, including the Modern Gallery in Zagreb, the Art Gallery Collection in Spilt and the Erste Bank Collection. He has received several awards, including the annual Filip Trade Award (Zagreb, 2003) and the annual Croatian Association of Artists for Young Painters (Zagreb, 2002).
Published works on Matko Vekić
- Prelog, Petar - Matko Vekić,(Fraktura, Zaprešić, 2005).
- Ed. Vuković, Radovan – Matko Vekić: the Animal Circle, the Zodiac Circle, (exh. cat, Art Pavilion, Zagreb, 15/2/2005).
- Ed. Kralj, Ariana – Matko Vekić: Symbol, Sign, Emblem, Ornament and Crime, (exh. cat, Croatian Academy of Science and Art, June 2008).
- Ed. Gottwald, Gaella A. – Matko Vekić: Okrutnost Kruga, (exh. cat, HDLU, Zagreb, October 2010).