Michal Mráz

Michal Mráz (1987) originally studied sculpture, but he made his mark on the international scene with his critical street art spirit and his characteristic figurative painting using the retro im- agery of the 1950s and 1960s. The post-war aesthetics, based mainly on American adver- tisements, thematise the birth of a modern mythology of endless growth and prosperity, to which the artist takes a critical, ironic stance. This is supported by the choice of an almost monochromatic colour scheme. The artist composes the painting from several disparate motifs, often set in absurd contexts or a scenery of half-demolished buildings. The result is a visual remix of a rich thematic dramaturgy. From street art, the artist took not only his critical-analytical approach to socio-political problems, but also the technique of gestur- al stencil painting. His work begins with research and thematic preparation, followed by sketching and assembling the discovered images in Photoshop, and then transferring them to the canvas using stencils. This is followed by painting with acrylic sprays and the artist’s characteristic asphalt, which has not only artistic but also symbolic meaning. The chosen monochromatic colour palette has a layer of multiple meanings as well. On the one hand, it reports on the socially widespread phenomenon of black and white world view, on the other hand, it lets us penetrate the author’s vision. In fact, the artist has a par- tial colour deficiency and sees only 12 % of the spectrum. Mráz has a rich exhibition histo- ry consisting mainly of foreign destinations (France, Denmark, USA, etc.). In 2012 he was nominated for the Artaq Urban Art Award and a year later he was a finalist in the Saatchi Online Showdown. His works adorn a number of important international collections and he is represented abroad by Olivier Waltman Gallery in Paris.