JIŘÍ SLÍVA

Jiří Slíva (*1947) is a Czech artist, focusing on cartoon humor, book illustration, lithography, and other graphic techniques. In addition, he writes aphorisms, poems for adults and children, composes songs, and is the author of many postage stamps.

In 1966, he left his native Plzeň for Prague to study at the University of Economics. After completing his studies in 1971, he remained in Prague and started working as a specialist at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

In 1979, he began to make a living solely from drawing. He started writing his first song lyrics during his high school studies, and his first drawings were published by Mladá fronta in 1972. Since then, he has had numerous solo exhibitions both at home and abroad. He has published many solo books and illustrated over two dozen others. He also wrote poems for the children's magazine Mateřídouška. 

Since 1993, he has been a member of the Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists. He was a member of the Czech Union of Caricaturists (ČUK). He was involved in teaching – in 1990, he led a Poetry & Cartoon seminar at Oberlin College in Ohio, USA.

In Salzburg, Germany, from 1990 to 1993, he taught a drawing and illustration class at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts (Internationale Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst Salzburg), assisting, for example, Professor Jiří Šalamoun. Slíva's cartoon humor is typically built on paradox – placing otherwise serious and ordinary subjects in unexpected contrasts. Among his favorite themes, which he depicts in his works, are coffee, wine, jazz, love, and Franz Kafka.