Hawaii 5 by Andrew Valko

Andrew Valko was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1957. Valko studied woodblock printing in Japan with master printmaker Toshi Yoshida. His work has been included in several prestigious shows including the Yoshida Annual International Print Exhibition from 1987 - 1994 in Tokyo, Japan. Valko's realist paintings are so illustrative that they are a near parody of camera technology.

Valko uses his printmaking techniques when painting with acrylics. Working on wood, he uses a router and carves into the wood creating texture which reinforces the painting. Throughout almost 20 years of exhibitions he has been collected and exhibited by many important public institutions and private collectors in Canada and abroad, including the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Brockton Art Gallery, Boston, The Canada Council Art Bank, and The Claridge Collection, Montreal. In December of 1994, Andrew Valko was elected into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.