MARIA JANKOVICS

Painting & printmaking

514-932-5463
studiojankovics@videotron.ca

Maria (Marika) Jankovics was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1949 before it fell under Communist rule. At four years old, she showed symptoms of acute osteomye-litis and was hospitalized. Operations to remove the bone infection were done without anesthetics, which left the artist with chronic pain and fear of its reoccurrence. Jankovics' artistic journey began at an early age and most of her experimentations were created during repeated hospitalizations. She eventually left Hungary with her family and completed her BFA in 1989 at Concordia University located in Montréal. Jankovics' large-scale work often reflects her Hungarian heritage, and incorporates themes of suffering. The work takes on a childlike quality, using a playful combination of color and text, resembling an illustrated storybook. The imaginative subjects conjure up traditional themes from the Jewish and Catholic faiths (her mother is Jewish and her father Catholic) and also include political statements. "My paintings are about life and death and everything in between. There is joy but there is always a tinge of anguish," she says. Jankovics has exhibited in over 200 exhibits since 1985.

Maria Jankovics is active in both the printmaking and Hungarian communities in Canada, where she is a member of Atelier Circulaire and the Canadian Hungarian Cultural Collective (CHCC), a newly formed organization which works to promote Hungarian artists. She has dedicated much of her time to creating opportunities for artists to share their work within the public forum, and in the past has given demonstrations and opened her studio to the public.