Mária Balážová

Mária Balážová (born 31 August 1956 in Trnava, Slovakia, former Czechoslovakia) is a contemporary Slovak artist. Her practise as an artist is usually associated with new geometry, post-geometry and postmodern.

Mária Balážová
Born (1956-08-31) 31 August 1956
Trnava, Slovakia
NationalitySlovak
EducationAcademy of Muse Arts in Bratislava
Known forPainting, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpture
MovementGeometric abstraction, Hard-edge, Post-geo

Life and work

Balážová studied at the Academy of Muse Arts, Bratislava and Magister of Arts degree received in 1984. Balážová is also known as a teacher at the University of Trnava - since 1997. Husband - Blažej Baláž, slovak painter.

Immediately at the beginning, Mária Balážová, created her own „personal mythology“, emphasizing a snake motif in the geometrically stylised form of a cobra. This animal, which occupies an important position in world mythologies and religions, became the main motif of cycles of paintings, to which the artist gave the name Serpent Geometry. Balážová distinguished herself from classic Neo-Constructivism, outlined on subjectless combinations of shapes and colours, put together into geometric structures. Art theorists appreciate the „new significance“ she achieved by creating radically reductive forms (Jiří Valoch, 2002). "[1]

In her latest works, fear of violence, power and hegemony are projected in the intimate family background, where the dominant men´s element is systematically planned in the painting area and it culminates in the series of drawings and paintings called Domestic Violence. A distinctly expressive handwriting used in some places refers very straightforwardly to Balážová´s personal story and moves the general criticism of an androcentric society to a more intimate position. Here, the key role is played by the figure of a despotic father who permanently and demonically comes back in acrylic canvases and large-format drawings – destructively and aggressively . In the latest works, Mária Balážová bet on a straightforward expression of her personal story associated with a therapeutic character. This approach in her works represents a new dimension not only for her herself, but also for geometric painting in general. (Roman Gajdoš)

Her works are held in the collections of Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, National Gallery, Prague (CZ), Wannieck Gallery Brno (CZ), Jan Koniarek Gallery , Trnava.

The artist has been a member of the revived Club of Concrete Artists 2 and the artist's group East of Eden. She lives and works in Trnava.

Awards
  • 1990 Honorable Mention, Drawing 1990, Provo (USA)
  • 1995 Prize of Masaryk's Academy, Prague (CZ)
  • 2019 Honorary Mention Award, International Drawing Biennale India 2018-19, New Delhi (India)

Selected solo exhibitions
  • Maria Balazova, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, 26 June – 30 July 1991 (catalogue)
  • Maria Balazova, Gallery Arpex, Bratislava, 28 January – 17 February 1993
  • Serpent Geometry, Cyprian Majernik Gallery, Bratislava, 19 April – 8 May 1995
  • Serpent Geometry 2, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, 23 May – 23 June 1996 (catalogue)
  • Dozen 1988-2000, The Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, 5 May – 30 June 2000
  • Dozen 1988-2000, The East Slovak Gallery, Košice, 14 September – 15 October 2000
  • Nadowessioux, Bratislava City Gallery, 1 February – 11 March 2001
  • Mária and Blažej Baláž : The Discreet Charm of the Painting , House of Art, Česke Budějovice, 27 March – 21 April 2002, Czech Republic
  • Alphabet, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, 9 September – 24 October 2004 (catalogue)
  • New significance, Nitra Gallery, Nitra, 28 June – 23 July 2007
  • Mária Balážová : Post-Geo, Liptov Gallery, Liptovský Mikuláš, 10 February – 9 April 2011
  • Mária Balážová-Blažej Baláž : Post-Geo-Text, Slowakisches Institut, Berlin, 14 April – 30 May 2011, Germany
  • Mária Balážová : Male and Female Pictures, Gallery of Art, Nové Zámky, 7 February – 16 March 2013
  • Mária Balážová – From Order to Chaos, Martin, Turiec Gallery, 11 September - 2 November 2014
  • Mária Balážová – Female Geometry, Bratislava, Gallery Z, 2 September - 9 October 2016
  • Mária Balážová – Geo-Femina,The Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica, 18 May – 27 June 2017
  • Mária Balážová – Under the Skirt,The Museum of Art, Žilina, 19 October – 19 November 2017
  • Mária Balážová – Women´s Tread, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, 12 September – 27 October 2019

Selected group exhibitions
  • Interplays, Prague, National Museum, Czech Republic, 1987
  • Art Basel 20´89, Basel, Switzerland, 1989
  • Drawing 1990, Provo, Utah, USA, 1990
  • Vth International Drawing Triennale, Wroclaw, Poland, 1992
  • Fibre, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1994
  • 1st International Triennial of Graphic Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria, 1995
  • BRIDGing, Esztergom, Duna Múzeum, Hungary, 1997
  • Club of Concretists, Bratislava, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1999
  • Neo-Constructivism in Slovak Art, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, Slovakia, 2000
  • Eine kurze Geschichte zur Malerei, Leverkusen, Germany, 2001
  • Slovak Contemporary Art, Prague, Gallery Art Factory, Czech Republic, 2002
  • Slovak Contemporary Art, Krakow, International Cultural Centre, Poland, 2004
  • Draught / Contemporary Slovak Painting 2000-2005, Prague, City Gallery, Czech Republic, 2006
  • Allied... , National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic, 2006
  • Contemporary Slovak Art 1960-2000, National Museum of Contemporary Art (Romania), Bucharest, Romania, 2007
  • 1960 – present / The Slovak Art, Prague, City Gallery, Czech Republic, 2008
  • Borders of Geometry, Bratislava, House of Art Bratislava, Slovakia, 2010
  • After Hours : Phase 2 / Artists from Slovakia, Santa Ana, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, USA, 2010
  • Daisies and clones, Bratislava, Slovak National Gallery, Slovakia, 2011
  • ObraSKov/ Contemporary Slovak Painting, Brno, Wannieck Gallery, Czech Republic, 2011
  • IV New Zlin Sallon, Zlin, Regional Gallery of Fine Arts, Czech Republic, 2011
  • VIII. International Biennial of Drawing Pilsen 2012, Pilsen, Czech Republic, 2012
  • IX. International Biennial of Drawing Pilsen 2014, Pilsen, Czech Republic, 2014
  • 3rd International Salon Graphics, Kraljevo (RS), 2015
  • Here and Now, Budapest, Kunsthalle (HU), 2015
  • 5th International Drawing Triennale, Tallinn, Kunsthalle (EE), 2015
  • 4th International Salon Graphics, Kraljevo (RS), 2016
  • Osten Biennial of Drawing Skopje 2016, Osten Drawing, Skopje (MK), 2016
  • Socially alive, Bratislava, Slovak Union of Visual Arts, 2016
  • Sew Long! Fashion in Slovakia 1945-1989, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2017
  • Contemporary European Geometrically Tendencies, Slovak Union of Visual Arts, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2018
  • Hommage à Peter Vajda, Prague, Museum Kampa – The Jan a Meda Mládek Foundation, Czech Republic, 2018
  • International Drawing Biennale India 2018-19, New Delhi India, 2019

Works
  • Archetyp (1988) : Collection of Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava
  • Pose VII (1989)
  • Rocket Man 1 (1989)
  • Lexicon 1 (1990)
  • Flowing 6 (1993) : Collection of Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava
  • Serpent Geometry 2 (1994) : Collection of Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava
  • Serpent Geometry 3 (1994)
  • Serpent Geometry 5 (1996)
  • Serpent Geometry 15 – Church (1998)
  • Serpent Geometry 33 – Fatum (2000/01)
  • Serpent Geometry 40 – Alphabet 3 (2002) : Collection of National Gallery, Prague
  • Serpent Geometry 43 (2004)
  • Serpent Geometry 49 - Portrait (2005/06) : Collection of Wannieck Gallery Brno
  • Serpent Geometry – Shoot (2005)
  • Serpent Geometry 70 – History (2005/07)
  • Chaos 1 (2006/09)
  • Domestic Violence 5 (2019)
  • Domestic Violence 6 (2019)
  • Domestic Violence 8 (2019)

Books and Catalogues
  • BALGAVÁ, B. - ORAVCOVÁ, J. - VALOCH, J. 1997. Mária Balážová. Trnava : Ján Koniarek Gallery, 32 p.
  • VALOCH, J. 2002. Mária Balážová / Serpent Geometry 1997-2002. Trnava : Trnava University, 12 p.
  • BESKID, V. - VALOCH, J. - GAJDOŠ, R. 2009. Mária Balážová / 1985-2009. Trnava : Typi Universitatis Tyrnaviensis, (English – Slovak, colour), 111 p. ISBN 978-80-8082-265-1
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References
  1. BELOHRADSKA, L. Mária Balážová. In BELOHRADSKÁ, Ľ. – TROJANOVÁ, E. 2009. Borders of Geometry. Bratislava : PETUM, p. 82 ISBN 978-80-970160-1-2 (English – Slovak, colour)."

Further reading
  • BESKID, V. 1998. 6 Slovak contemporary painters. Košice : V. Löffler Museum, 24 p.
  • ORIŠKOVÁ, M. 1999. Abstract art. In GERŽOVÁ, J. 1999 (ed). Dictionary of World and Slovak Fine Art in the 2nd half of the 20th century Bratislava : Kruh súčasného umenia Profil, p. 16
  • BESKID, V. 1999. New geometry. In GERŽOVÁ, J. 1999 (ed). Dictionary of World and Slovak Fine Art in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Bratislava : Kruh súčasného umenia Profil, p. 201
  • BARTOŠOVÁ, Z. 1999. Mária Balážová. In Contemporary Slovak Art. Bratislava : Rabbit and Solution, p. 6
  • VALOCH, J. 2001. In-between Pure Geometry and Semantics. In Ateliér, vol.14, no.6, p. 9 (CZ)
  • BÖHMEROVÁ, Z. – JANČÁR, I. 2007. Slovak Graphics of the 20th Century. Bratislava : Municipal Gallery, 2007, p. 267, 314
  • BARTOŠOVÁ, Z. 2007. 20th Century. In Art in Slovakia / Summary History of Pictures. Bratislava : Slovart, p. 224, 225
  • TOMÁŠOVÁ, I. 2007. New significance. In Vlna, vol. IX, no.32, p. 90 - 91. Bratislava : Občianske združenie Vlna
  • BELOHRADSKÁ, Ľ. – TROJANOVÁ, E. 2009. Borders of Geometry. Bratislava : PETUM, 429 p. (English – Slovak, colour)
  • KNÍŽÁK, M. – VLČEK, T. (eds.). 2009. 909 / Art from the Turn of the Millennium in the National Gallery in Prague 1990 - 2009. Prague - National Gallery, p. 147, 362
  • GERŽOVÁ, J. 2009. Talks about Painting. Bratislava : Slovart, VŠVU Bratislava, p. 232 - 247
  • BESKID, V. 2012. The image of painting in the „Picture du nouveau“. In ObraSKovo nanovo / Contemporary Slovak Painting. Poprad : Tatranská Gallery, p. 15
  • GUILLAUME, M. 2013. Male and Female Images. In Ateliér, vol. 26, no.6, 21.3.2013, p. 8 (CZ)
  • GUILLAUME, M. 2013. Mária Balážová – Personal Geometry. In Ostium, vol. 9, no.4/2013
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