Mario Keglevic (born 1963, in Zagreb, Croatia), currently working and living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mario's artworks are recognizable for their vibrant colours and well thought out composition. He was 10 years old when he got his first oil paints. It is interesting that his first paintings were made on glass, painted reverse. As he himself says, his love for colours was so enormous that it made him to discover himself how to paint. He plays with colours and figures reshaping colouring according to the painting's goal and intended effect. Thus, Mario creates his own magical worlds with simple brush strokes enjoying the process at the same time.
Although, Mario is a self-taught artist he had an opportunity to study art and design while staying in Perth, Western Australia, where he fled his country in 1993 during the conflict in Yugoslavia. Between 1995 and 2000 he had several exhibitions in Perth. At that time Mario made acrylic paintings in naivistic style using memories from his childhood as an inspiration. After returning to Europe in 1999 and situating himself in Amsterdam, he continued working in the same style. Between 2006 and 2012 he was working on Twelve Chapters, collection of 12 paintings, which are personal takes from his life. In 2013 he switched from using acrylic to painting with oils and he started to explore more realistic style. The result is collection of 9 paintings called Reflections of Jordaan, which is included in his collection Dutch Delight.
Mario's artistic personality is compounded of qualities that include sensibility and a penchant for detail. In its use of colour and light tone Mario is influenced by naïve art, realism, pointillism and impressionism. Also, Mario's main influence while studying art was the old masters works from the Dutch Golden Age. Mario's occupations as a painter are surreal and imaginary landscapes, while his recent style is a result of his exploration between naivistic and realistic style. His artworks don't show reality as it is, but what it could be. This colorful happening is managed by using exaggerated colors. Mario's painting Harmonious depicts his vision of art in a very good manner. His paintings show recalled memories of his childhood combined with the ideal scenery and warm colors and therefore create a beautiful and harmonious world. Along with his peaceful landscape scenes, there are many including human figures which show his artistic skill.
His artistic activity is confirmed by series of exhibitions in The Netherlands, Japan and Spain (2007: Window to the world NL/JP Nagasaki National Museum; 2012-2013: Galerie Jordaan Amsterdam; 2014-2017: Cafe Eijlders Amsterdam, Gallery Cloud Amsterdam; 2017: Four Seasons Art Fair, Amsterdam, 2022: The Flat Gallery, Mahon Menorca, Spain). Also, many private collections around the world including ones in Australia, Austria, Finland, USA, The Netherlands, Japan, England and Croatia have Mario’s (sold) artworks in possession.