Croatian Fine Art of the 20th and 21st Centuries

from the Collections of the Varaždin City Museum

Moravské zemské muzeum

Dietrichsteinský palác, Zelný trh 8, Brno

7.11.2024. /21. 2.2025.

The aim is to highlight the overview of Croatian fine art of the 20th and 21st centuries with the exhibition, and to introduce the Czech art public to the values ​​and achievements of the Croatian fine art scene. The works (paintings and sculptures) of the most important Croatian artists from the holdings of the Varaždin City Museum will be presented. They mark the key points of the development of Croatian art on its one-century journey and their strong links within the framework of the European context. At the same time, it is a brief overview of the latest currents in Croatian contemporary art. Each work speaks for itself about the continuity, the spirit of the times and the maturity of our artists, who, in terms of quality and style, rival their respected European colleagues.

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OPENING: Fr, 27th of September 2024, 6. p. m., KULTUM, Mariahilferplatz 3, 8020 Graz, Austria

INTRODUCTION: Dr. Johannes Rauchenberger, Curator, Tue-Sat 11 a.m to 5 p.m., Sun 3 to 6 p.m. (winter: 2 p.m.–5 p.m.)

CURATOR AND ARTIST-TALK: Sat, 28th of September, 3 p.m.: Johannes Rauchenberger in conversation with Zlatko Kopljar

In a time of deeply felt crises and new wars, the work of Croatian artist Zlatko Kopljar stands for an ethical and aesthetic (re)orientation: Kopljar explores the lasting aftereffects of the traumas of the 20th century—fascism, extermination, the Ex-Yugoslav Wars, postsocialism, postcapitalism.

The fundamental questions of ethics, guilt, and sacrifice are a recurring motif in Kopljar’s work. Over almost four decades, he has explored practically all forms of artistic expression, from performance, photography, film, and sculpture to (memorial) art. In his 22 Ks (Constructions), he gradually develops the figure of a man in a reflective suit: the protagonist of his video works, a persona like a lightning rod for human longing. Four years ago, Kopljar decided to paint for the first time—and only paint henceforth. He consistently avoids any obvious message in these “stripe paintings.”

MER. Books

Book Launch, 11.06.2024 — 18:30 Wiels Brussels Av. Van Volxem 354, 1190  Forest free access

Join us for a conversation on art and politics between artists Luc Tuymans and Zlatko Kopljar and curator and author of the book Ory Dessau, followed by festive drinks and the possibility to meet and talk with the artists and the author.

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FOUR ELEMENTS


GALUM Split, Hrvatska

10. 8. – 24. 9. 2023.

exhibition curators: Vanja Babić, Božo Majstorović

Artists: Ivo Deković, Sandro Đukić, Ivo Gattin, Đorđe Jandrić, Anto Jerković, Božidar Jurjević, Željko Kipke, Zlatko Kopljar, Ivan Kožarić, Jelena Lovrec, Dalibor Martinis, Mak Melcher, Davor Mezak, Marijan Molnar, Lav Paripović, Renata Poljak, Ivan Posavec, Damir Sokić, Goran Trbuljak, Gorki Žuvela

The multimedia-designed Four Elements exhibition includes works by artists of different generations who worked during the last third of the past century and the beginning of this century – from the gradual transition from the modernist to the postmodernist era until the present day. The exhibition draws its immediate inspiration from the philosophical concept of the ancient thinker Empedocles (5th century BC), who explained the entire appearance of nature and the world through four essential and eternal elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Namely, Empedocles teaches that the visual and material characteristics of everything depend on the mutual interweaving or separation of the elements in different proportions. Aristotle would also adopt the thesis of the four elements, and thanks to the Aristotelian tradition, it would persevere in the Middle Ages. The same division also defined the system of the zodiac, whereby three out of twelve signs would make up the fire, water, earth and air groups. Thanks to the famous German art historian Aby Warburg’s efforts to unravel the metascientific zodiac key (by which the Renaissance frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara were programmed and executed), this astrological discourse would give birth to iconology, one of the most revolutionary and influential methods for interpretation of art.

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Almisa Open Art Festival

Introspekcija, refleksija i interakcija

8.-12.08.2023 Omiš, Hrvatska

Suvremena umjetnost, posebice kada se izražava u javnom urbanom prostoru, ima moć transformacije i promicanja dijaloga između umjetnika, publike i okoliša u kojem djeluje. Festivali poput Almissa Open Art festivala služe kao plodno tlo za stvaranje novih radova koji zadiru u prostor javnosti, oblikujući našu percepciju i potičući nas na razmišljanje o različitim aspektima naše kulture, identiteta i vrijednosti.

Ovaj po mnogočemu poseban festival svake godine poziva drugog umjetnika da preuzme funkciju kustosa, čime se ona transformira i razvija u smjeru poništavanja granica između umjetničke produkcije, kuriranja i prezentacije, čime se redefinira definicija autora. Festival tako osigurava određenu nepredvidljivost programa, fluidan programski smjer i identitet, a stvara se platforma za zajednički rad kustosa, umjetnika, istraživača i publike putem novih modaliteta umreženih suradničkih praksi. Ove godine program je osmislio umjetnik Ivan Mesek na temu UMJETNOST (SAMO)IZLJEČENJA.

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