Mária Švarbová Biography

Mária Švarbová (b. 1988) currently lives in Slovakia. Despite studying restoration and archeology, her preferred artistic medium is photography. From 2010 to the present, the immediacy of Mária Švarbová's photographic instinct continues to garner international acclaim and is setting new precedents in photographic expression. The recipient of several prestigious awards, Mária Švarbová's solo and group exhibitions have placed her among the vanguard of her contemporaries, attracting features in Vogue, ForbesThe Guardian, and publications around the world; Mária Švarbová photography is frequently in the limelight of social media. Mária Švarbová's reputation also earned her a commission for a billboard-sized promotion on the massive Taipei 101 tower, in Taiwan.

Mária Švarbová's distinctive style departs from traditional portraiture and focuses on experimentation with space, color, and atmosphere. Taking an interest in Socialist era architecture and public spaces, Mária Švarbová transforms each scene with a modern freshness that highlights the depth and range of her creative palette. The human body throughout her oeuvre is more or less a peripheral afterthought, often portrayed as aloof and demure rather than substantive. Carefully composed figures create thematic, dream-like scenes with ordinary objects. Mária Švarbová prints and images hold a silent tension that hint at emergent possibilities under the lilt of clean and smooth surfaces.

Mária Švarbová photography has been shown internationally at prestigious museums and institutions. She has been named both a Hasselblad Master and one of Forbes' 30 Under 30.