He was born on 21 May 1929 in Levice. He was a painter, modernist, avant-gardist, aviator, constructor, constructivist, solitarist and philosopher. A reserved experimenter and constructor, he was one of the pioneers of the abstract-geometric tendency in Slovakia. He moved to Bratislava with his two brothers and parents in 1945. The three brothers experienced the flourishing of glider aviation in Dúbravka and at Vajnory Airport.

After completing secondary school at the School of Applied Arts, he studied from 1951 to 1956 at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava under Prof. Ján Želibský.

His search for artistic expression took place in the context of the development of abstract art in Europe. He holds the distinction of being the first to turn to abstract-geometric vocabulary in Slovak painting after the Second World War. He was a member of the Concretists’ Club and from 1969 exhibited alongside young talents in Bratislava, Prague, Vienna, Brno and other cities. During the years 1969–1989, under socialism, modern abstract art was considered problematic and Pavel Maňka withdrew from public life. From 1991 he exhibited at group shows and salons. He held a solo exhibition at the Cyprián Majerník Gallery in 2012. A separate strand of his work consists of aircraft; he designed hundreds of planes and hovercraft, all of which fly as models made from balsa wood, paper and polystyrene.

In his own words: “Science, technology and art have made possible the achievement of the current high level of our civilisation; the radius of creative possibilities on a global scale is constantly expanding. I love technical creations, modern architecture and art. The elegant lines and clean colours of a sports car stir in me an aesthetic-dynamic excitement, as does the launch of a space shuttle; I am drawn to cosmic space. In parallel with technology, visual art too has developed in all directions. I am drawn to constructivist tendencies, which allow for the expression of the very essence of the world.”

P. Maňka died on 4 September 2015 in Bratislava.

On the Píly housing estate, his works can be found on Janko Kráľ Street (Carrying out Morena) and on Banícka Street.