(Ljubljana, 1962 - )
Leon Zakrajšek is a Slovenian painter and graphic artist who, through his works of art, unites Europe and Japan. He studied at the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana, and then continued at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. He graduated there in 1986, and from there he went on to further his artistic training.
At first, he spent time in Spain at the Centro Internacional de Recerca Grafica in Calella, and then in Italy, where he visited the master printmaker Prof. Armando Martini. In 1997, he received a Bunka-Sho scholarship from the Japanese government, with which he studied at the Tama Art University in Tokyo between 1997 and 1998 and in the studios of Japanese masters Fumio Kitaoka, Yuki Rei and Harumi Sonoyama. There, he mainly studied traditional techniques such as Japanese woodblock printing mokuhanga and sumi. He was introduced to graphic art by Professor Gorazd Šefran, one of the most prominent Slovenian artists in the said technique. Zakrajšek explored the intertwining of Western thought and Eastern customs and artistic traditions through the use of printmaking. By combining both worlds, the artist developed his own distinctive expression.
He is characterized by the intertwining of discipline and spirituality with expressiveness and spontaneity. Zakrajšek has been collaborating and exhibiting within the Slovenian Fine Artists' Association since 1987, and has also become an honorary member of the Tokyo Print Association Han 17 and the Petrovaradin Fortress Art Circle in Novi Sad. As a selector and member of expert committees, he has participated in Cremona, Haifa and Sofia, and has made a significant contribution to international cooperation in the field of printmaking. In addition to his artistic activities, he is also interested in organizing exhibitions and artistic exchanges between countries. His style includes works created in the techniques of sumi, monotype, oil on canvas and mixed techniques, in which he combines the characteristics of printmaking with calligraphy and a painterly approach to the motif in question. His works are said to evoke the meditative silence characteristic of Zen aesthetics.
Zakrajšek's artistic world is based on respect for tradition, gratitude to mentors and the search for a balance between calm and creative inspiration, that is, between East and West, between the spiritual and material world. With his stroke, he is supposed to express power and spontaneity, with which he is supposed to express the inner rhythm of the creator. He is helped in his work by the symbolism of the circle, which in Zen Buddhism represents the universe, perfection and the moment when the mind is freed from the body and the soul becomes a creative force.
During his career, he has organized more than 150 solo exhibitions around the world. He has presented himself in Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Croatia, China, Ireland, Serbia, Israel and Slovenia. He has also participated in more than 250 group exhibitions on all continents. He has received several awards for his artistic and cultural mission, including the high Japanese imperial decoration, the Order of the Rising Sun, with which Japan honored his long-standing work in building cultural bridges between the two countries.
Leon Zakrajšek je slovenski slikar in grafik, ki s pomočjo umetniških del združuje Evropo z Japonsko. Šolal se je na Srednji šoli za oblikovanje in fotografijo v Ljubljani, nato pa je nadaljeval na Akademijo za likovno umetnost v Ljubljani. Tam je leta 1986 tudi diplomiral, od tod pa se je odpravil na umetnostna izpopolnjevanja.
Sprva se je mudil v Španiji na Centru Internacional de Recerca Grafica v Calelli, nato pa še v Italiji, kjer je obiskoval mojstra tiska prof. Armanda Martinija. Leta 1997 je prejel štipendijo japonske vlade Bunka-Sho, s pomočjo katere se je med 1997 in 1998 izobraževal na Univerzi Tama Art v Tokiu in v ateljejih japonskih mojstrov Fumia Kitaoke, Yukija Reija in Harumija Sonoyame. Tam je preučeval predvsem tradicionalne tehnike, kot sta japonski lesorez mokuhanga in sumi. K grafiki ga je nagovoril profesor Gorazd Šefran, eden vidnejših slovenskih umetnikov v omenjeni tehniki. Zakrajšek je s pomočjo grafike raziskoval preplet med zahodno miselnostjo in vzhodnimi običaji in umetnostnimi izročili. S tem, ko je umetnik združil oba svetova, je razvil lastno prepoznaven izraz.
Zanj je značilen preplet med disciplino in duhovnostjo z ekspresivnostjo in spontanostjo. Zakrajšek od leta 1987 sodeluje in razstavlja v okviru Društva slovenskih likovnih umetnikov, postal pa je tudi častni član organizacij Tokio Print Association Han 17 ter Likovnega kruga Petrovaradinska Tvrdjava v Novem Sadu. Kot selektor in član strokovnih komisij je sodeloval v Cremoni, Haifi in Sofiji ter pomembno prispeval k mednarodnemu sodelovanju na področju grafike. Poleg umetnostnega udejstvovanja, se zanima tudi za organizacijo razstav in umetniških izmenjav med državami. V njegovem slogu najdemo dela, ki so nastala v tehniki sumi, monotipije, olja na platnu in mešanih tehnik, v katerih združuje značilnosti grafike s kaligrafijo in slikarskim pristopom k obravnavanemu motivu. Njegova dela naj bi priklicala meditativno tišino, značilno za zenovsko estetiko.
Zakrajškov umetniški svet temelji na spoštovanju tradicije, hvaležnosti do mentorjev in iskanju ravnovesja med umirjenostjo in ustvarjalnim navdihom torej med vzhodom in zahodom, med duhovnim in materialnim svetom. S svojo potezo naj bi izrazil moč in spontanost, s katerima naj bi izrazil notranji ritem ustvarjalca. Pri delu mu pomaga simbolika kroga, ki v zen budizmu predstavlja vesolje, popolnost in trenutek, ko se um osvobodi telesa ter duša postane ustvarjalna sila.
V svoji karieri je pripravil več kot 150 samostojnih razstav po svetu. Predstavil se je v Avstriji, Italiji, Franciji, Nemčiji, Kanadi, na Japonskem, Hrvaškem, Kitajskem, Irskem, v Srbiji, Izraelu in Sloveniji. Sodeloval je tudi na več kot 250 skupinskih razstavah na vseh celinah. Za svoje umetniško in kulturno poslanstvo je prejel več priznanj, med njimi visoko japonsko cesarsko odlikovanje tako imenovano Red vzhajajočega sonca, s katerim je Japonska počastila njegovo dolgoletno delo pri gradnji kulturnih mostov med državama.
All the artists on the Porta Alpina website can be found at this link.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
SOURCES/VIRI:
Aleksander BASSIN, Leon Zakrajšek, retrospektiva, https://www.galerijamp.si/2022/05/25/leon-zakrajsek-retrospektiva/ (12.10.2025).
Milček KOMELJ, Posvečenost novih japonskih monotipij Leona Zakrajška, https://www.ateljegalerija.si/sl/umetniki/leon-zakrajsek/clanki (11.10.2025).
Magda TUŠAR, Leon Zakrajšek, 14.9.2024, https://prvi.rtvslo.si/podkast/razkosje-v-glavi/1339670/175072115 (22.10.2025).
Leon ZAKRAJŠEK, Leon Zakrajšek Art, https://leonzakrajsek.art/ (24.10.2025).
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