Ján Kurinec

BIB

*1983, Šaľa

Biography

Ján Kurinec studied Art Education and Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. After completing his studies, he taught at the Private Elementary School of Arts Ateliér Médea in Nitra. He currently works as a freelance illustrator, book designer, and graphic designer. He lives and works in Nitra.

Illustration Features

Ján Kurinec’s work primarily focuses on illustration for children’s and young adult books, comics, and book design. He collaborates with Slovak and Czech publishing houses and has also worked long-term with the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He began his illustrative work with collections of Slovak folktales and legends, a field he continues to explore today, including titles such as Carpathian Tales, Tales from Pohronie, Hont and Novohrad Tales, stories and bandit songs, and Twenty-Four Guardians of Slovakia. He has also created extensive visual material for a unique project of Rusyn translations of works by Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Dickens.

The dynamic and modern character of his illustrations, often enriched with comic-style elements, has found application in many adventure and detective books, as well as in short stories and novels by contemporary authors for children and young adults. In recent years, he has also been intensively involved in illustrating popular science books in the fields of science, history, and psychology aimed at older children and teenagers.

A special place in his work is occupied by comics, as demonstrated by the title Post Office No. 1, as well as author books such as The Golden Octopus, dedicated to his favorite themes of the sea, ships, and adventure expeditions. His interest in music, also expressed through playing the double bass, is reflected in his collaboration on publishing sheet music booklets by contemporary composers for children.

In addition to illustration, he also designs book covers and book layouts, particularly for scientific publications. He has also contributed to some projects as an author or publisher. He was one of the first finalists of the literary competition Fantasy Award.

"The illustrations by Ján Kurinec combine historical events with fantasy, sharp, realistic line drawings of the story’s heroes with mysterious knights and riders emerging from dark silhouettes against a backdrop of majestic nature. Kurinec masterfully combines overhead views with low-angle views, calm, static figural compositions with dynamic ones, full of movement and action. He does all this with great ease, grace, joy and a sense of rhythm and peace. The colours of the compositions are subdued, the shapes are precisely cut out, and individualized. The author is a great draughtsman; his line has a strong pull. The illustrations create unity with the content of the book, not only illustrating the events and stories, but arousing a desire to learn more about Kráľova Hoľa, Inovec, Babia hora, or Sitno."

(on the book Twenty-Four Guardians of Slovakia, in the catalogue of the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2024 (abbreviated)

Other areas of creation

In addition to illustration and book design, Ján Kurinec also works in digital graphics, drawing, poster design, and commercial design—especially for festivals and events—as well as music.

Bibliography of Illustrated Books for Children and Youth

Hontiansko-novohradské povesti, príhody a zbojnícke piesne (J. Mäsiar, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2010); Adalbertov denník ( A. Nanettiová, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2010); Povesti z Pohronia ( P. Urban, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2011); Karpatské povesti (P. Urban, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2011); Carmen = Karmen (P. Mérimée, Edika 2012); Loupežníci = Die Räuber (F. Schiller, Edika 2013); Neuveriteľné dobrodružstvá uja Fera (F. Rojček, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2015); Experimenty v psychológii : ako vzniká poznanie (V. Čavojová a kol., Iris 2017); Povesti o slovenských jazerách, plesách, studniach a studničkách (I. Válek, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2017); Deň, keď som zmenil svet (I. Kesnerová, Ikar – Yoli 2018); Tajné písmo (R. Brat, Ikar – Stonožka 2019); Sto a jeden dalmatinec (D. Smithová, Egmont 2019); Klikal som a čítal som : ) krátky manuál k faktom a výmyslom (M. Jurkovič, Ján Kurinec 2020); Najznámejšie experimenty vo ----►fyzike) : ) od zvedavosti k vynálezom (S. Kováčik, Ján Kurinec 2020); Povesti z Poľany a Podpoľania ( P. Urban, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2020); Prypovidkŷ (H. Ch. Andersen, molodŷ.Rusynŷ 2021); Štyria jazdci (R. Brat, Ikar – Yoli 2021); Zabiť diabla nie je hriech : strhujúci príbeh hrdinských žien z Hontu a Novohradu (V. Czobor, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2021); Najznámejšie experimenty v psychológii : ) s deťmi /// o deťoch /// pre deti (V. Bačová, Ján Kurinec 2022); Zbojníci : povesti a príbehy o horehronských tovarišoch smelého remesla (F. Kreutz, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2022); Revúcke guľky (O. Sliacky, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2022); Roždestvenna koľada (Ch. Dickens, molodŷ.Rusynŷ 2023); Dejiny pokazených zubov : -sliny a krv))_+40 000 (P. Paichl - A. Doskočilová, Ján Kurinec 2023); Zlatá chobotnica : skice, kresby, ilustrácie (Ján Kurinec, v.n. 2023); Arséne Lupin : lupič džentlmen (M. Leblanc, Ikar 2023); Stalo sa : príbehy, ktoré sa naozaj stali (M. Spišiak, v.n. 2023); Šerosvit (Z. Belková, Fagan 2023); Neverím vlastným očiam : tarzanky, škriatkovia a jednorožce (Z. Štelbalská, Albatros 2023); Stracený v povětří (S. Beran, Host 2023); Arséne Lupin : dôverné priznania (M. Leblanc, Ikar 2024); Môj kamoš Četti (R. Brat, Ikar – Stonožka 2024); Pošta No. 1 (J. W. Petrová, JWP 2024); Dvadsaťštyri strážcov Slovenska : nevšedné príbehy našich vrchov (S. Muntág, A-Knihy 2024); Strach nad řekou (S. Beran, Host 2024); Arsène Lupin : tajomstvo krištáľovej zátky (M. Leblanc, Ikar 2025); Moje tělo je moje (R. Ahmedová -R. Kůřilová - T. Fousek Krobová, Mladá fronta 2026)