Biography
Marko Spalatin was born in 1945 in Zagreb, Croatia. In 1963, he immigrated to the United States where he earned both his B.S. and M.F.A. degrees in art from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 1968 and 1971 respectively.
He is a prolific producer and exhibitor of paintings and prints, with over 100 solo shows and many more group exhibitions to his credit. He has been featured in shows at the Madison (WI) Art Center; the University of Iowa (Iowa City), Albrecht Museum, St. Joseph, MI; National Arts Club, New York, NY; Janus Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; and the Croatian Academy of Art, Zagreb, Croatia. His several national group exhibitions and competitive shows include the following: Northwest Printmakers 40th International (Seattle, WA); World’s Fair (Osaka, Japan); 17th National Print Exhibition (Brooklyn Museum, NY); The Print Club of Cleveland: 1969-94 (Ohio); Basal International Art Fair (Basal, Switzerland); and the World Biennale of Croatian Art (Toronto, Canada). Spalatin has been featured in numerous articles and published reviews, including the New York Times (Oct. 7, 1972); Art News (Nov. 1972); Arts Magazine (April 1976); and the New Art Examiner (December 1980). Among the many permanent collections that hold his work are the Musée d'Art Moderne (Paris, France); the Tate Gallery (London, England); the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, IL). In 1995, The Butler Institute of American Art published a 114-page full-color book in conjunction with its 25-year retrospective exhibition of Spalatin’s work.
"My work represents a continuous involvement with abstract geometric forms defined by careful manipulation of color and light. The relationship between form and color within the pictorial field demands a visually symbiotic presence. The challenge revolves around the selection of a form as a vehicle for color, as well as choosing appropriate color and light for that form. This interplay creates a primary spatial illusion, along with secondary effects.
In general, my compositions remain formal and symmetrical in order to be set in motion by unexpected mutations of color and light. In some cases, the careful placement of small areas of saturated color against a backdrop of transitional grays creates an illusion of suspended particles. There is no doubt that in these images in particular, my sense of color and light is subconsciously influenced and sustained by many years of scuba diving in the waters of the Adriatic Sea and the Caribbean. I am intrigued by the relativity of color and by the mystery of light, and I am constantly challenged to explore their potentials. Every painting becomes a self-imposed visual problem, subjectively resolved in search of an objective truth."
Source of Biography
markospalatin.com;
Catalog of the 22nd National Exhibition of Prints. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1971;
Spalatin, Marko. Marko Spalatin, Graphic Work, 1968-1978. Madison, WI: Madison Art Center, 1979;
Spalatin, Marko. Marko Spalatin, a Retrospective, 1970-1995. Youngstown, OH: The Butler Institute of American Art, 1995