Mario Jakob Stroitz, known as Maja, was born in the early 1970s and lives and works in Carinthia, Austria.

Even in his early youth, the world of Marvel, DC and Disney offered him an opportunity to retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in his parents' environment. Already at this time he begins to draw the characters with colored pencils and immerses himself in these distant worlds and heroic stories.

After various jobs, he began to devote himself to his old passion – drawing – in the mid-90s. Initially he designed mascots and illustrations, and at the same time he studied both figurative and abstract painting on his own. In 2000 he became self-employed and founded the ArToonFactory – an agency that combines art (Art), illustrations/mascots (Toon) and graphics (Factory). Exactly 10 years later, the ArToonFactory becomes artmajabusiness. After attending art seminars to improve his drawing skills and explore new techniques, he decides to combine comics and acrylic painting and begins working on the “Comic Meets Art” series. Heroes from comics, computer games, series and films remain the focus of his work to this day, as can be seen in the works in his “Contemporary comic art by artmaja” series. Mario Stroitz has been working in his KunsTaum - the (Maja)rei in Klagenfurt since 2010: a place of artistic creation and encounter, a place for art and for life, which is constantly changing, like life itself. Now in the NL gallery.

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YOUNG, BOLD, FUN! – there are hardly any more appropriate words to describe the contemporary pop art style of the Austrian artist Mario Stroitz alias Maja. The style of the Austrian is unmistakably based on the style of great modern American artists. There are numerous points of identification with the Pop Art of the 1960s, but the artist Maja continues to develop this style and transfers it to the  Presence. Through the use of neon or fluorescent colors, pop art has arrived in the now. The stencil graffiti design of the background also contributes to this and locates the works within contemporary positions with influences from the increasingly present and common area of street art.

Based on Roy Lichtenstein, who also concentrated on the comic genre, Maja continues with his modern pop art variant.

A relevant character, a rudimentary subject becomes a story through a single image. The protagonists of his latest works are well known to every viewer, from film, television or comic books from their own childhood or the present. Their actions are often action-packed, often comical and ironic, always captivating in their simplicity. The bright colors and the reducedness of what is depicted facilitates access to the works and the recipient quickly finds himself or herself in the trendy imagery. The artist's latest works from 2019 - 2021 bring grandeur and glamor to the artwork using metal, glitter, neon and fluorescent colours.

Never stagnant, constantly in action and always in the midst of life, Maja's artworks seem to meet our world with enough wit, humor and irony. Enough for any viewer to deal with this world!

Art interpretation Mario Jakob Stroitz – artmaja

Anna Quintus - art historian
type quotient. Arts. Criticism. And more.
Heidelberg, D

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Deutsch:

Mario Jakob Stroitz, called Maja, was born in the early 1970s, lives and works in Carinthia, Austria.

Even in his early youth, the world of Marvel, DC and Disney offered him a retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in his parents' environment. Already at this time he began to draw the characters with colored pencils and immersed himself in these distant worlds and heroic stories.

After various jobs, he began to dedicate himself again to his old passion - drawing - in the mid-90s. At first he designed mascots and illustrations, at the same time he studied both figurative and abstract painting. In 2000 he set up his own business and founded the ArToonFactory - an agency that combines art (Art), illustrations / mascots (Toon) and graphics (Factory). Exactly 10 years later the ArToonFactory becomes artmajabusiness. After attending art seminars to consolidate his drawing skills and researching new techniques, he decides to combine comics and acrylic painting and begins to work on the series “Comic Meets Art”. Heroes - from comics, computer games, series and films - can still be seen in the works of his “Contemporary comic art by artmaja” series. Since 2010 Mario Stroitz has been working in his KunsTaum - the (Maja) rei in Klagenfurt: a place of artistic creation and encounter, a place for art and for life that is constantly changing, like life itself. Now in the NL gallery.

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