Artist Interview: Slávka Krátká

Engineers becoming artists is not something we hear about every day. We often think of engineers as rigid, nerdy, cold and, well, boring… at least the ones I've met fit that description to a tee. So, what could make an artist out of an engineer? Experience? Influence? Magic? In Mrs. Krátká’s case it was the blessing/curse of the empty nest and her academic painter husband, Lubomír Krátký.

It might sound cliché but picking up a hobby to get through kids growing up and leaving home is quite normal. Only for Mrs. Krátká, her husband’s lessons ignited a passion for the arts strong enough to make her leave a stable job and propel herself into the unknown at the age of 50. 

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She began painting in the abstraction style through collages and assemblages when she was still undiscovered by the community. She then shifted to cubism, creating a city out of a cluster of houses (as engineers love to do). Some might classify her as a naive artist, while the curator at the Mánes exhibition called her art Narrative Lyrical Urbanism with insite elements. The truth is, she doesn’t really care what her art is classified as, because classifications don’t put a woman on the map - her perseverance, humility, diligence, her belief in herself and her fierceness did that all on their own.

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Mrs. Krátká shot to fame and started selling her art abroad, with “Big City” being her first major art piece presented in 2023 at the Mánes gallery. As Gaudí created a new, interesting and original movement she aspires to create her own cities and life therein, an escape from the weight of everyday life where she can look at the houses, listen to the people and feel the soul of the houses to the core.

Staring at “Big City” I knew exactly what she meant. I took a stroll in her sunny city, walked down its winding paths and stared at the sea from building-tops, as I write from cloudy, stormy Vienna. It transported me to where I want to be. 

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She was inspired by her husband and a score of artists including Joan Miró, G. Brague, Amadeo Modigliani, Kamil Lhoták, Josef Vyletal and Josef Hlinomaz. But, when asked what her influence was, she had this to say: “I don't let myself be influenced by my surroundings, I create according to my inner self and memories from the past or present. I create my own cities where I don't have to follow orders and norms of life.” 

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You might be thinking: that’s all fine and dandy, but how does Artivive come into the mix?

At the Josef Hlinomaz X Slávka Krátká exhibition at the Mánes gallery, Mrs. Krátká used the Artivive App to paint movements that no traditional brush can quite capture: birds can fly, people laugh, clouds can float… if that doesn’t spice up an art exhibition, I don’t know what does. So far the reaction has been amazing, as shown in the guestbook, the smiles on people’s faces and on social media!

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Although Mrs. Krátká is keen on evolving her art with Artivive’s AR solution, she still intends on upholding her style as she paints her soul through the brushes on the canvas, while keeping an open mind to using technology to enhance exhibitions. 

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Slávka Krátká went from building houses in flawed cities to creating her own utopian city filled with a sense of well-being and the joy of life, where the primary focus is on houses, the supporting element of the painting, complemented by lighthouses, boats, balloons, airships, and, above all, stories of people.

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