Academic painter Zlatko Kauzlarić - Atač graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the class of Miljenko Stančić in 1968, where he was an assistant from 1973, an assistant professor from 1978, an associate professor from 1985 and a full professor from 1996. He was an associate of the Master's workshop of Krsto Hegedušić (1968 – 1974) and member of the group "Biafra" (1970 – 1978). Captivated by the human figure and its destiny, he is associated with figurative painting, leaning towards engaged art and a critical approach to contemporary topics, while at the same time plunging into human intimacy. In the beginning, he painted subjects from contemporary life with a critical approach, then he softened his style and used refined impasto colors, especially in expressive portraits. He is the author of artistic interventions in public spaces (Koprivnica, Zagreb) and numerous scenographies at the National Theater in Zagreb (M. Krleža, Banquet in Blitva, 1981) and in other theaters in Croatia and abroad.

As a member of the Biafra group, he leans towards naturalism and, agreeing to the concept of the ugly and uncanny, his restless expressionist expression embraces Baconian blurred, contorted bodies and grimaces. Then he begins to follow the obsessions and motives of modern media, which use scenes of eroticism and violence. It takes the image from TV screens and newspaper pages, warning that it is often misused and manipulated. By focusing on the world and the rituals of people from the mass media, especially politicians and rock musicians, it raises awareness of the iconography of the modern world imposed by these media. He often divides the composition into several fields, in which he juxtaposes large, clean surfaces and meticulously painted details, capturing movement and displacement with charcoal, pastel or brush. Towards the end of the 1970s, his distinct critical expressionism gradually lost its edge of engagement. He intensifies his work on intimate themes, paints eroticized female nudes in charcoal and oil, simultaneously lyrical and provocative.