Mária Balážová


Mária Balážová is a contemporary Slovak artist. Her practise as an artist is usually associated with new geometry, post-geometry and postmodern.

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. "
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.
Her works are held in the collections of Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, National Gallery, Prague, Wannieck Gallery Brno, 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