Rachel Jutka Biography
VISUAL ARTIST
“From the position of Generation Y, I perceive visual social networks critically (and non-critically) as tools for the hyper-aestheticization of everyday life. I explore ways of capturing the reality around us through the lens of a smartphone and freely describe my own fragments—experiences—of being a user within the virtual network, while employing the language of abstract imagery. I observe the strategic-aesthetic quality of social networks and the sensory stimuli of these new media, and connect them (perhaps paradoxically) with materiality and image perception.
My work, often curiously linked to the phenomenon of water, oscillates between organic and digital notions of flow. For me, water is a method, a working process, and a metaphor. The virtual flow of endless images and stories shared in the online world creates a vast space for both play and tension. Everything encapsulated, moving in masses, never ending—just like water flowing through countries.”*
Rachel Jutka (b. 1996) is a contemporary painter and visual artist, born in Košice. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Scotland (Moray School of Art, University of the Highlands and Islands, UK). She is currently pursuing her Master’s studies in the Painting Studio at the Faculty of Arts in Košice (TUKE), under the guidance of doc. Mgr. Art. Oto Hudec, ArtD. She regularly exhibits her work both in Slovakia and abroad, in group and solo shows, including in the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary (New Contemporaries 2023, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Another Profile Picture, Šopa Gallery, Košice; Bold Red Line, VUNU, Bratislava; Your Water Our Water, Delphi Space; Freis aqb Project Space, Budapest & U10 Space, Belgrade, Serbia; Soil Not Oil, Slovak Institute in Prague, It’s Different)
„Rachel Jutkova works experimentally, over-lapping paint, graphics and photography, and exploring concepts of hyperreality and simulation... However, whatever the outcome, Jutkova is one of several young artists who represent a new generation questioning both how we frame ourselves and, how we are framed.“ text by Miina Eskola, 2021, (artist, writer and critic based in Helsinki, Finland)
Exhibitions
2021 - “Čo sa stane, ak si oblečieš maľbu, odfotíš sa v nej a postneš to na Insta?” Galéria Výklad, Trnava, Slovakia, solo exhibition
2021 - Degree Show, Elgin, UK, virtual exhibition
2020 - Discover Moray’s Great Places, Elgin, UK, artist talk
2019 - New Designers, London, UK, group exhibition
2019 - Vision 19, Shetland College, UK, group exhibition
2019 - Shetland Inspired: Moder Dy, Wave ~ CNK, Presov, Slovakia, solo exhibition
2019 - Shetland Open 2019, Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland, UK, group exhibition
Awards and professional collaborations
2025 - OSCAR AWARD CEPAN
2021 - Collaborative project <facets> with Icelandic musicians Mikael Lind & S.hel, by Whitelabrecs (UK) & ArtNorth Magazine, CD cover
december 2019 – april 2020 - Discover Moray’s Great Places project funded by Creative Scotland, working with artists Morag Smith, Lynda Buchan and mentor Mary Bourne RSA, creating an artwork as a response to the history of Moray region in northern Scotland
2019 - The Bradford Textile Society Design Competition, commendation award for screen printed textiles design, UK
2019 - Jamieson & Smith Wool Brokers Competition, commendation award for an installation piece ‚”Abbreviations and Modern Knitting “, UK
2019 - work “Hidden in The Stones of Elgin I & II” selected by Historic Environment Scotland and Craft Scotland panel as part of the project Meet Your Maker, UK
Press & media
2021 - Whitelabrecs, collaboration with ArtNorth
2021- The Student Gallery, February 2021
2021 - article „Inštalácia Rachel Jutkovej reflektuje súkromie vo verejných sociálnych sieťach“, Rádio Devín
2020 – TV series Kultura.sk, STV1, (19min53sec)
2020 - publication Moray’s Great Places: A Response, introduced by Mary Bourne RSA, Moray Council & Moray School of Art, UHI
2020 - article Moray School of Art students and alumni partnership with Discover Moray’s Great Place