Jozef Gľaba, the illustrator, graphic artist, occasional painter and collagist, was born on May 6, 1995 in Prešov. He is a fourth year student at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the Department of Printmaking and Other Media, Studio Free and Color Printmaking under academic painter and assoc. prof. Vojtech Kolenčík. In 2018, he completed an internship at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava in the Laboratory of Illustration under assoc. prof. Mgr. art. Ľuboslav Paľo, ArtD.

The aesthetics of street art and graffiti were the initial impulses to his work, and these inspirations accompanied and affected his free printmaking and occasional collages in the studio when he entered AFAD.

Nowadays, Jozef works with digital illustration and free printmaking. His focal techniques in free printmaking are screen printing, rotogravure printing and linocut. He also creates illustrations for children, adults, as well as products. You can see his work in the network of Kraj grocery stores, Slniečko magazine for children and the illustrated edition of the Denník N newspaper, which was published in cooperation with illustrators from AFAD in 2019. His works feature a sense of humor, plays on words and a feeling for detail and composition.

The exhibition focuses on Jozef’s current project - the design and implementation of silk screens of thirty-two playing cards. This is a conceptual continuation of the work of medieval creators of playing cards, combining traditional printmaking principles and modern techniques and technologies. His “pictures” bring humor, fresh color, and a reflection of the current times. He used the atmosphere of the village pub as the principle in selecting the themes depicted in the cards. He balances on the edge of humor, irony and at times even vulgarity.