Svetozár Mydlo

SVETOZÁR MYDLO (2015)

* 10^th July 1948, Ružomberok
† 29^th November 2014, Bratislava

A well-know illustrator, veteran art editor at the Mladé Letá publishing house, creator of the visual style of the Radošiná Naive Theatre, graphic designer, typographer and, most importantly, a painter. In the year 2006, he created the logo for the Kremnica Gags Festival – the black gander in the form a 1-kilogram weight. He was born in Ružomberok, where he studied the Folk School of Art. In the years 1963 – 1967, he studied at the department of arrangements at the Middle school of industrial art (under professor Fila), from 1967 till 1973, he studied and graduated at the High school of visual arts (professors: Dezider Milly and Peter Matejka). Then, he worked as art editor in the Mladé Letá publishing house from 1975 until retirement. As early as the late 60's, Mydlo the painter created his own style, his own take on the Slovak version of pop art. During his studies, he worked with commercial art and later, as an illustrator and art editor, with typography. His main fields of work were illustrations in books and magazines, but he also had architectural realisations. Ever since his student years, he collaborated with Stanislav Štepka – he hand-crafted posters, bulletins and invitations, adjusted catalogues and even created postal stamps. The younger generations will definitely remember dozens of children's books with his illustrations – he also illustrated Slniečko, a magazine for children. Mydlo worked for many Slovak publishing houses: Slovenský Spisovateľ, Smena, Tatran, and Pravda. For Opus, he created the art of many vinyl records and, later, CDs. The number of realised book covers and illustrations exceeded 2000. He has won many awards in Slovak contests for the best book art. In 2006, he has won the Ľudovít Fulla award for his work for children. In 2012, the Academy of Humour awarded him the unique Golden Gander prize for his continued contribution to visual humour. Svetozár Mydlo was also successful abroad. As early as in 1981, he was featured in the Japanese graphics magazine Idea, and later had exhibitions in the Bi-annual festival of commercial art in Brno, Bologna, Leipzig and the Bi-annual of illustration in Bratislava. Mydlo was a cheerful and a very human person. He was honest and responsible in relationships and in work. He never faked anything, and hated pathos and boasting.

Author of the relief: Ján Konuš
Born: 16 ^th October 1984 in Bojnice
2000 – 2004 student at ŠÚV Kremnica, specialised as artistic black-and locksmith
2004 – 2008 student at the Academy of Arts, Banská Bystrica, specialised in sculpture
2007 – Akademia sztuk pieknych, Varšava, figural art studio
2008 – 2010 Academy of Arts, Banská Bystrica, area of specialisation: free visual art