Martin Skrivanek - Maskare
photography and graphics
He has attended approx. 120 solo and collective exhibitions, as well as photo salons.
Between 1990 and 2000, he was awarded for his participation in the international photo salons.
At several salons (USA, India, Thailand, Slovakia, and Czechia) he won nearly 20 awards and repeatedly received honourable mentions for his exhibited photographs and prints (selection of honourable mentions, and jury awards).
- Thajsko, The Photographic Society of Thailand, Internationale Exibition under the Royal Patronage of This Majesty the King, 1996, Monochrome print, Honorable Mention 1
- Jižní Korea, 29th. Internationale Salon of Photography, 1994, Monochrome print , Honorable Mention 1
- Jižní Korea, 29th. Internationale Salon of Photography, 1994, Monochrome print , Honorable Mention 2
- Indie, Sam Circuit, Pilukhuwa, Internationale Salon of Photography, 2015, PID color, Honorable Mention 1
- Slovensko, Cena ZSP (Svaz Slovenských Fotografů) 2015
- USA, 3rd Dixie, Southern, Internationale Salon of Photography 1996, Color slide, Honorable Mention 1
- USA, 4th Woodstock, Internationale Salon of Photography 1996, Color slide,Medail
- USA, 3rd, Oconee, Internationale Salon of Photography 1996, Color slide, Medail
- USA, 3rd, Peachtree, Internationale Salon of Photography 1996, Color slide, Honorable Mention 1
- USA, 3rd, Peachtree, Internationale Salon of Photography 1996, Color slide, Honorable Mention 2
- USA, 3rd, PRome, Internationale Salon of Photography 1996, Color slide, Honorable Mention 1
- Trienale Grafiky Praha, 3 místo v kategorie moderní techniky
Maskare has been interested in photography and fine-art techniques since 1981, beginning with reportage and landscape photography. At the end of the 1980s, he became inspired by the work of the photographers and professors, Mr. Stibor and Mr. Borovička, and devoted himself to scenic and figural photography. Simultaneously, he was pursuing reportage photography within the Czech art and acting scene for academic journals and articles. This period also coincided with the beginnings of the author's experimental work to which he introduced mixed media, combining techniques of offset printing and painting. During the 1990s, the author realised a series featuring body imprints using photo paper, which were subsequently complemented by sand structures, and converted into positives. So created black-and-white images were then coloured by aniline paint and varnished. There are approximately 50 original works that were created by this technique, more than half of which are currently a part of private collections and the other archived by the author. Between 1990 and 2000, the artist produced textured photo prints combining various mediums, namely glass and structured material, which resulted in a series of tinted 30 x 42 cm prints. In making these images, the photographer used a set of authorial combined techniques which created unique images that were subsequently finished using film processing and painting. The biggest breakthrough in his work was in 1995 when a series of graphic prints capturing the female body with its curves began to emerge under the title 'Body Lines...', the main motif being the female body and its lines. Here the author deploys image layering that communicates a pictorial narrative. The author has been creating these small and medium format laser-graphic images for more than twenty years. This gradually transformed into a collection celebrating female body excluding face expression and visualization.
Throughout this phase, a photographic series 'From the Waist Down' called 'Tales of the Street...' was created.
This photo series is being continuously expanded. So far, most of the works were taken in cities of Italy, namely Verona and Venice, as well as in Prague, Bratislava, and Ukraine. The reportage photographs capture only a second of people's lives, yet, they encapsulate not just the story of the present moment, but also their mysterious past. The creation of these photographs does not follow the author's intention, a pre-set concept, or pre-planned composition, nor is it dictated by other rules which normally determine the direction or quality of art and reportage photography. The photographs are taken randomly, from a perspective of an adult, and are envisaged to show the everyday expressions and mimics of the face, natural body movements and common activities. Each photograph depicts several people who are unknown to each other and testifies the different experience of their life stories. The photograph brings these stories together and allows the viewer to focus on each person individually, fantasise about the life stories of these unknown individuals, or come up with their own narrative.