Matko Vekić was born in 1970 in Zagreb, Croatia. He has graduated painting at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts in 1995. He has received several awards as an artist, stayed on a several study tours India, Turkey, Japan and was a part of many art colonies. He had many solo exhibitions in Croatia and abroad (Germany, Austria, Egypt, England, France, Italy, Turkey, Luxembourg). He has participated at Cairo Biennale in 2006 and 2010, as well as at at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia in 2009. His works belong to a number of museums, galleries, private and corporate art collections in Croatia and abroad. He has been awarded several times for his work so far. He works as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.
The artist has formed a distinctive artistic expression and established himself as one of the most serious and significant Croatian painters of the middle generation. Although he clearly remains committed to the traditional medium of painting, he does not perceive it as something hermetic and set apart from contemporaneity and the impact of other media. He is best known for his expressive works that captivate not only with his painting technique but also with his strong social criticism. In his work he uses different motifs to problematize and ironize the state of the contemporary society. Mixing of surreal elements and motifs from the main stream culture with scenes from daily life is a recognizable determinant of the painter’s strong works. Vekić is an artist whose mastery over the space of the painting is absolute, freely building his expression through the use of rollers, stencils while emphasising the materiality of the painting process. That is why, however much the theme of his work is serious, the excitement and joy of the creation itself is always visible. Vekić’s distinctive work is sometimes close to abstraction, and sometimes clearly figurative, prompting us to think, leaving open possibilities for different interpretations of the artist’s work.
2013. Rijeka, Gallery Kortil, The Magnetic Burden of Time
Poreč, Gallery Zuccato
2012. Zagreb, Gallery Kranjčar, Ordinary people – Inner happenings
2010. Zagreb, HDLU Gallery Bačva, The cruelty of the circle
Vicenza, Yvonneartecontemporanea, La gravita del tempo
2008. Zagreb, Gliptoteka HAZU, Symbol, sign, emblem, ornament and crime
Zagreb, Cages, Gallery Canvas
2005. Zagreb, Umjetnički paviljon, The animal circle –the zodiac circle
2003. Split, Art Gallery
Dubrovnik, Gallery Sebastian
2001. Zagreb, Studio Josip Račić
BiH,Sarajevo, Gallery Novi hram
2000. BiH, Ljubuški, Art Gallery TMT
1999. Zagreb, Gallery Karas
1998. Zagreb, Gallery Galženica
Zagreb, Gallery CEKAO
1997. Zagreb, Gallery Matice hrvatske
1996. Zagreb, Gallery NOVA
BiH, Mostar, Art Gallery
Group Exhibitions
2016. Maringer Galerie, Sankt Poelten, Austrija “Junge Kunst aus Kroatien”
2015. ArtDepot, Innsbruck
‘The Mask of God’s Image
2013. Leipzig, One-sided Story
Zagreb, Biennale of painting
2011. Cairo 12th Cairo Int. Biennale
Berlin, Preview Berlin – The Emerging Art
Istambul, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Trans-Form in Art Education
Sofija, Trans-Form in Art Education
2009. Venezia, 53. Int. Biennale, ”Dead in Venice or life trough 12 images”
2006. Cairo,10th Cairo Int. Biennale
London, Zagreb, Unframed Landscapes
2003. Lissone, Civica Galleria d’ Arte Contemporanea,
Premio Lissone
2003. Paris, Grands et jeunes d’Aujourd’hui
Art Colonies and Sabbaticals
2013 Leipzig, One-sided Story
2007. India ( Karnataka, Rajasthan)
2006. Slovenija, Kopar
2004. India ( Dehli, Chennai, Mombai )
2003. Mađarska, Tallya, Central European art camp
2001. Turska, Istambul,PI Atworks,Balkan art 2001
1998. Japan (Tokyo,Kyoto,Shizuoka)
Bugarska, Varna, Balkan Art 99
Awards
2003. Italy, Lissone, Premio Lissone 03
Zagreb , Annual award Filip-Trade for contemporary art
2001. Zagreb, Annual award of Croatian Artists Association, young artist
Art Fairs
2015. Vienna Art Fair, HO Gallery
2015. Affordable Art Fair, Milano, Zen Contemporary Art Gallery