Illustrator of the Year
Magdalena Rutová
Magdalena Rutová is an author who needs little introduction at the Czech Grand Design Awards. It has been a pleasure to see how her drawing has been able to adapt to various situations and formats. Her work remains recognizable at first sight, elegantly reacts to contemporary topics and is able to communicate a project’s unique mood to the audience. Her work typically employs strong lines and a sense for short-hand and humor which is able to lighten up even the most serious topics.
Over the past year, her work appeared in a few very different contexts. She illustrated the promotional materials and a large-format curtain for Má vlast that became one of the most visually striking aspects of this performance produced in the spaces of Azyl 78. The drawings, however, are not mere decorations but comprise an integral part of the scene and create the entire performance’s atmosphere. Her illustrations for the Momentum of a Decision installation presented at the Milan Triennial of design and architecture were also a natural fit, as they entered into a unique dialog with the space and contributed to the installation’s overall aesthetic feel. Her drawings were also featured as part of the accompanying publication.
We now come to the genre where Magda is like a fish in water: book illustrations. She has collaborated with Michaela Kukovičová on the publication Ženská práce for HOST publishers, where her illustrations engage with the text in a soft but accurate dialog. They are austere, even raw, while at other times they are slightly ironic, giving the book another layer of meaning without making themselves the center of attention. Her projects also show the immense joy she gets from drawing – from the process of observation, experimentation and searching, to the inclusion of small mistakes which comprise an integral part of the creative process. This open and natural approach gives her work immense energy, and the illustrations are thus able to function at various scales and in various settings, whether featured in a book, at an exhibition or as part of scenography.
František Kast