24. slavonski biennale




Kao što sam obećala, postam Vam fotografiju rada Autoportret u galerijskom prostoru. Trenutno je postavljen u Muzeju likovnih umjetnosti u Osijeku u sklopu izložbe Slavonski biennale gdje ga možete vidjeti do kraja veljače. Na prvoj fotografiji uz autoportret je izložen rad kolegice Helene Janečić, a na drugoj Monike Meglić.


Foto: Muzej likovnih umjetnosti, Osijek


Foto: Muzej likovnih umjetnosti, Osijek


As I promised, I post you photo of Self-portrait in gallery space. The work is currently set at the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek within the exhibition Slavonian biennale which you can see till the end of february. On the first photograph with the self-portrait is presented next to the painting made by colleague Helena Janečić, and on the other Monika Meglić.




Veiled boy



I u ovoj seriji slika koju se nadam naslikati bavim se vještinom kao rodno uvjetovanom kategorijom. Slika koju sam danas završila je, vjerujem, tek prva u nizu slika koje imam želju naslikati. Nadam se da će sve biti naslikane na istom formatu, 100x140 cm uljanom bojom. Prva slika prikazuje dječaka pod draperijom, a za nju mi je pozirao moj sin od dvije i pol godine kojega sam podmitila s dva Kiki bonbona.

Nedavno sam gledala jedan intervju s Kevin Francis Grayom, irskim kiparom, kojemu je jedan od omiljenih motiva tzv. vieled lady. U tom videu on samouvjereno kaže kako sve svoje skulpture u mramoru izrađuje bez korištenja suvremenih strojeva i lasera. Njegove skulpture nastaju istim postupkom kojim su nastajale skulpture kipara koji su živjeli prije dvjesto godina.  Upravo je to prenaglašavanje tradicionalne obrade mramora možda najbolji dokaz da motiv kojega je izabrao nije slučajno izabran. Naime, radi se o tome da je taj konkretni motiv kiparima bio iznimno zahvalan za demonstraciju vještine i zaista, kada se promotre skulpture tih senzualnih žena prekrivenih draperijama kroz koje se nadzire njihovo mlado lice i jedro tijelo - čovjek dobije dojam da je to onaj vrh svega što umjetnost može ponuditi. Grayeve skulpture izgledaju kao da su umočene u tkaninu koja se slijeva niz sočna tijela. No on je samo jedan u nizu kipara koji demonstriraju vještinu upravo tim motivom. Već u 3. stoljeću prije Krista u Grčkoj je taj motiv bio izvor imaginacije. Tijekom novoga vijeka kipari su se specijalizirali za taj motiv, a neki od kipara su Stefano Maderno (16.st.), Antonio Corradini (17. st.), Giuseppe Sanmartino (18.st), Raffaele Monti (19.st.), Giovanni Strazza (19.st), Pietro Rossi (19.st.), Giovanni Battista Lombardi (19. st.), Giovanni Maria Benzoni (19. st.), Giuseppe Croff (19. st.) itd. Prvo što čovjek primjeti u ovom nizu autora jest činjenica da taj motiv bio iznimno popularan tijekom devetnaestog stoljeća, a ako se pogledaju radovi jasno je da je velom/draperijom prekrivena u pravilu žena. Baš kao i kod Francisa Greya. I baš kao kod F. Greya motiv svih autora je bila demonstracija i trijumf vještine. Fina obrada mramora u motivu ženskog tijela prekrivenog draperijom dobiva potpuno novo značenje. Izradivši skulpturu zanosne žene pod draperijom umjetnik zapravo potvrđuje svoj status vrhunskog autora koji je ovladao vještinom.




Veiled boy, 140x100 cm, oil on canvas, 2014.




In this series of paintings I'm still dealing with the skill as gender-based category. The painting that I finished today I hope to be only the first in a series. I hope that everything will be painted in the same format, 100x140 cm in oil colour. The first painting shows a boy under the drapery, and  I posed my son who is two and a half years old by bribing him with two Kiki candies.

I recently watched an interview with Kevin Francis Gray, Irish sculptor, whose one of the favorite motifs is veiled lady. In this video he confidently said that all of his sculptures in marble are made without the use of modern machines and lasers. His sculptures are formed by the same method in which sculptors made sculptures two hundred years ago. This over-emphasis on traditional processing marble perhaps is the best proof that the motive which he has chosen isn't randomly selected. The fact is that this particular motif was for sculptors extremely grateful for the demonstration of skills and really, when you observe these sculptures of sensual women covered in drapery through which you can feel their young face and core body - one gets the impression that this is the top of all what art can offer. Gray's sculptures look like they were dipped in the fabric that runs along juicy bodies. But he is only one of many sculptors who demonstrate skill using that very subject. Already in the 3rd century BC in Greece that motive was the source of imagination. Afterwards, sculptors specialized in this motive, and some of the sculptors are Stefano Maderno (16th century), Antonio Corradini (17th c.), Giuseppe Sanmartin (18th c.), Raffaele Monti (19th century) Giovanni Strazza (19th c.), Pietro Rossi (19th century), Giovanni Battista Lombardi (19th c.), Giovanni Maria Benzoni (19th c.), Giuseppe Croff (19th c.) and so on. The first thing you could notice in this series of authors is the fact that the motive was extremely popular during the nineteenth century, and that women is the one who is covered with the viel. Just as we saw earlier in Francis Gray's sculptures. And just as in F. Grey's sculptures, motive of the author was to demonstrate his skill and to assert himself as the superior author.


Veiled boy, 140x100 cm, 2015.


Mrtva priroda



Nije slučajno da sam za ovaj rad izabrala medij figurativnog slikarstva. Iako sam se dvoumila između ulja i akvarela ipak sam se odlučila za ulje. Akvarel se često percipira kao ''ženska tehnika'' što me istovremeno i smetalo i privlačilo, ali sam se ipak odlučila za ulje ponajprije radi toga što sam nedavno pročitala jedan intervju s  njemačkim umjetnikom George Baselitzom u kojem je na pitanje o značajnoj brojčanoj nadmoći muškaraca nad ženama među najplaćenijim suvremenim umjetnicima on odgovorio tvrdnjom da žene loše slikaju. To me privuklo ka slikarstvu, a posebice ka ulju na platnu kao najomiljenijoj 'muškoj' tehnici u kojoj su žene inferiorne. A i prije ovoga intervjua sam bila svjesna tradicionalnosti figurativnog slikarstva koje sam željela ovom slikom dovesti u vezu s tradicionalističkim odnosom prema ženi. Iako nisam četiri godine (još od treće godine na Akademiji) naslikala ozbiljniju sliku, nisam se zabrinjavala time hoće li ona biti prema visokim slikarskim kriterijima kvalitetno naslikana. Ako bi bila kvalitetno izvedena - mogla bih uvijek reći kako je u suglasju sa samim medijem koji je 'muški' pa zahtjeva kvalitetu, a ako bi bila loša - opet se mogu vaditi na činjenicu da sam žena pa da loša izvedba ne iznenađuje.

Osim što sam medij priziva tradicionalnost, kao motiv sam se odlučila prikazati vrlo tradicionalnu mrtvu prirodu. U 17. stoljeću je Norbert Schneider sastavio popis motiva gradirajući ih od najuzvišenijih i najplemenitijih biblijskih i mitskih scena, preko državničkih djela i portreta pa do životinja i pejsaža. Mrtva priroda zauzima posljednje mjesto na popisu jer prikazuje prirodu u kojoj nema duha, niži oblik života. Zanimljiva je i činjenica da su slike mrtve prirode uglavnom bila najniže plaćene u  vrijeme nastanka popisa što je zgodna podudarnost sa izostankom najplaćenijih (prema Baselitzu kvalitetnih) suvremenih umjetnica danas. Ono gdje želim učiniti odmak od sedamnaestog stoljeća jest sam izbor predmeta koje sam složila u kompoziciju. Muškom tradicionalnom tehnikom prikazujem najniži motiv mrtve prirode kojega povezujem sa ženom. Prikazujem predmete za uljepšavanje, predmete koje koriste majke - izdajalice, grudnjake za dojenje, a sve kako bi napokon sav taj tradicionalizam bio primjenjen na ženskim predmetima kao što je u stvarnosti koja nas okružuje primjenjen na samoj ženi i svim ulogama koje su joj u društvu dodjeljene - od uloge majke, supruge, radnice...

Still life, 100x80cm, ulje na platnu, 2014.

Still life, 100x80cm, ulje na platnu, 2014.
Still life, 100x80cm, ulje na platnu, 2014.

Still life
Oil on canvas , 100x80 cm X3, 2014. ( planned triptych)


It is not coincidence that I've chosen for this work the medium of figurative painting. Although I hesitated between oil and watercolor, finally I decided to paint in oil. Watercolor is often perceived as a '' female '' technique which made me both mind and appealing , but I decided to make the painting in oil , primarily because of the interwiew with a German artist Georg Baselitz I've recently read where he was asked about significant numerical superiority of men against women among the highest paid contemporary artists, and he responded by saying that women are bad painters . It attracted me to painting, and in particular to oil painting as favourite' male ' technique in which women are inferior . And even before this interview, I was aware of traditionalism of figurative painting that I wanted to correlate with this painting  the same way as the traditionalist attitude towards women . Although I haven't painted last four years, I'm not worried about whether the painting would be  high - quality painted . If it was well done - I could always say that is consistent with the very medium that is ' male ' and requires  quality , and if it was bad - again, you can not remove the fact that I am a woman, so that poor performance is not surprising.

Besides a medium that evokes traditionalism, as a motive, I decided to show a very traditional still life. In the 17th century, Norbert Schneider compiled a list of motives, ranking them from the loftiest and most noble biblical and mythological scenes, over portraits to the animals and landscapes. Still life is at the last place on the list because it shows the nature in which there is no spirit, a lower form of life. Also interesting is the fact that the images of still life generally was the lowest paid at the time the list which is a nice coincidence with the absence of highest-paid ( by Baselitz quality ) contemporary female artists today. What I wanted to do is to change  items in composition. Men's traditional technique showing the lowest motif of still life which I associate with women. Displaying items women  use for beautyfying, objects used by the mothers - a breast pump, nursing bras, and my goal is to apply traditionalism on these objects by painting them, as it is applied today on Croatian woman, and all the roles in her life - the role of mother, wife, worker ...


Torzo



Torzo je rad kojim sam željela uspostaviti vezu sa zaboravljenom sobom iz prošlosti. Kao djevojčica sam svoju pripadnost iskazivala sakupljačkim aktivnostima - sakupljala sam salvetice koje je moja majka sve ove godine čuvala u obiteljskoj kući u Slavonskom Brodu. Radi se o golemoj kolekciji različitih salvetica koje sam sakupljala i razmjenjivala s prijateljicama kroz čitavo osnovnoškolsko razdoblje, te ih sortirala ovisno o materijalu od kojih su izrađene, obliku, rijetkosti  i motivu kojega prikazuju. Od svih tih salveta sam se odlučila iskaširati torzo sadašnje ja. Danas sam žena od trideset godina čije je tijelo potpuno izborano iskustvom majčinstva koje me duboko promijenilo.
Moju žensku pripadnost više nije potrebno dokazivati aktivnošću kao što je sakupljanje salveta, ona je sveprisutna na mojemu tijelu prema kojemu izrađujem kalup/negativ u kojega ću ukaširati te vrijedno sakupljane salvete kako bih od jedne kolekcije nastala potpuno druga kolekcija  - hrpa istovjetnih torza kojima se želim pomiriti s vlatitim tjelesnim 'ja' tako da suočim publiku s tim visećim ljušturama koje će im se nametnuti, koje će im smetati, kroz koje će se morati provući i koje će morati dotaknuti i maknuti s puta kako bi prošli. Svu svoju neugodu nastalu otkrivanjem vlastite sebe ovim radom želim podijeliti s publikom koja će tu nelagodu osjetiti provlačeći se među iskaširanim ljušturama. Ta blaga nelagoda kod publike bi trebala biti izazvana činjenicom da su se našli u situaciji u kojoj im ulazim nepozvana u privatni prostor.
Svjesna sam  i činjenice da rad upravo zbog izbora materijala koketira s kičem u današnjem vremenu u kojemu su hobby art tehnike (među kojima je i takozvana salvetna tehnika) visoko profitabilni biznis zahvaljujući upravo ženama.
Rad Torzo je još uvijek u procesu nastanka. Trenutno kaširam šesti u svojoj kolekciji i nadam se da će ih biti sveukupno 20 do 25 kako bi ih mogla izložiti u nekom galerijskom prostoru gdje će napokon u interakciji s publikom dobiti svoj puni značaj.

Skulpturalna instalacija, kaširani papir,
veličina promjenjiva (veličina pojedine skulpture cca 30x40x60 cm), 2014.


Torso
Spatial sculptural installation , bonded paper , variable size (the size of individual sculptures approximately 30x40x60 cm ), 2014.

Back in the 2002nd year in fourth grade of secondary school, I first saw a photograph taken in 1961. showing the happening Yard by Alan Kaprow . Even today when I think of that photo I have the same chills that I felt the 2002nd year because I was aware of how radical that idea was . This idea seemed to stray deep into the past because it seems to methat it would be as radical today in the 2014 as it was at the time of the occurrence . Although this work can be read with a lot of different positions , I was most intrigued by the position of the audience . The photography clearly shows the problems that audience who came to exhibition was faced with . The crowd was forced to participate in the work .
Many authors believe that their work a result of introspection and that the position of the audience is that one should put himself in the position of the author , and there is no need for explanation because that's all clearly visible in art work . In this way, artistic expression becomes an alibi and the answer to every question , and the audience comes into the position of a silent observer , and my attitude is just that the audience is the one who needs to find answers to their own questions as well as I have found some answers to my own questions , thinking about work of Alan Kaprow .

It is why I wanted to find a way to actively engage the audience in this work , and it seems to me that the easiest way to do so is to make use of the fact of their physical presence in the gallery space . I have already tried to implement similar idea using drawing as a media in work called Grey , and this time I decided to do a bunch of sculptures that I produced using my own torso . The imagined I set a bunch of these hanging shell into gallery space through which the audience will have to sneak to get to the rest of the exhibition . I want simboliclly raise awareness that women make more than a half of population, and using my own body and the material which I diligently collected all the childhood I give all of the torsos my own identity . The sculptures are made out of the same mold them and that unifies them , but the very fact that they are made from negatives of my torso and napkins that I collected throughout my childhood, I wanted to give them my own personality and get into the personal space of each individual visitor of the exhibition .

New in




U poslijednje vrijeme sam se okrenula tradicionalnim medijima. Završila sam jedan kolaž i jedno ulje koje je bilo nekakva vrsta vježbe za slike koje planiram naslikati. Prvotno sam se dvoumila hoću li slikati u ulju ili akvarelu, ali kad sam završila ovo ulje bila sam sigurna da je ulje ispravan izbor. Akvarel me privukao jer je često karakteriziran kao ''ženska tehnika''. Kad se sjetim akvarela odmah pomislim na Slavu Raškaj. A rad će se baviti ženskim pitanjima (ne želim previše otkriti). No ipak sam se odlučila za ulje. Akvarel je oskvrnut kičem za razliku od ulja, a i lakše je naslikati sliku uljem jer se greška preslika, a kod akvarela ta mogućnost nije na raspolaganju. Osim toga trenutno radim i na torzu kojega se nadam izvesti u tehnici kaširanog papira. Mnogo ideja, a malo vremena. Evo za sada i ne baš tako reprezentativnih fotografija autoportreta. Na žalost su fotografirane doma gdje nemam toliko prostora. To je posebno problematično za kolaž, ali čim ga budem izložila negdje u galeriji odmah ću uplodati kvalitetniju fotografiju.

Autoportret, kolaž na medijapanu, 2x2,5m, 2014.
                                                                                 detalj            
Self-portrait
Collage on MDF , 2x2.5m , of 2014.

Self-portrait is a collage on MDF size 2x2,5m . It consists of four identical plates on top of which are glued square fragments of photographs cut from pornographic magazines. Each square in the work abounds in content and when viewed from a distance it makes one small part of a self-portrait. In this way, I wanted to ask a question how  viewer looks at a woman ( me) and examine how aware are we of the perception of women as sexual objects within contemporary media .


Akt








Akt (Nude). PVC foil on plexiglass, 70x100 cm, 2012.  


Porno






Video still







                                                  Porno, 7' video, 2010.  







                                       

Grey





Bio je to Walter Benjamin koji je ustvrdio da gledatelj apsorbira umjetničko djelo u sebe poput arhitekture koja je ujedno u stanju proizvesti simultanu kolektivnu recepciju. Upravo se takvom čini prostorna instalacija naziva „Grey“ mlade autorice Marije Mikulić Bošnjak, aktivne sudionice izrazito vitalne osječke suvremene umjetničke scene, koja  navedenu taktilnu i vizualnu recepciju stvara „zamjenom mjesta s kojeg se gleda mjestom u koje se gleda“.
 Rad je, naime, kreiran za specifičnu arhitekturalnu situaciju te je njegova veličina prilagođena prostoru; odnosno radi se o „podnom“ crtežu na papiru čije velike dimenzije (otuda i nemogućnost prvotnog „čitanja“ motiva) preuređuju i redefiniraju ovaj galerijski prostor u čemu autorica vidi dobru priliku za „preuzimanjem“ i osnivanjem self-made galerijskog prostora gotovo nalik art squat-u.
Posjetitelj galerije je, prije nego uoči motiv crteža, suočen sa sivim grafitnim odsjajem poda po kome je nužno gaziti provocirajući neizbježno dijalektičko razmišljanje između slike golemih razmjera i male fragmentarne situacije te ono o nepovredivosti i „svetosti“ umjetničkog djela u izložbenom prostoru. Potenciranje psihološke dimenzije velikim, tehnički besprijekornim, apstraktnim crtežom koji se pruža cjelokupnom površinom poda te ima karakter all-over efekta izdići će, odmaknemo li se dovoljno, lik. Motivsko određenje inspirirano je osobom/događajima iz naše nedavne prošlosti. Portret druga Tite za nas i autoricu (iako generacijski udaljena od direktnog iskustva) nosi specifično značenje te neiscrpan izvor imaginacije kao i  iluzija te slojevita i danas često kontradiktorna značenja iz čega bi se  mogla iščitati politička i socijalna angažiranost ove prostorne instalacije. Udaljena od tradicionalno mišljena „spomenika“ sa duhovitim pa čak i irealnim karakteristikama  provocira naša vlastita promišljanja, povijesti i mitologije koje definiraju naš realni i imaginarni život.
Samo pozicioniranje crteža; portreta, rekreirane ikone naše povijesti, provocira političko društvo, ironizira, karikira i sardonizira autoritete te nužno vodi ka neizbježnoj transformaciji i mutaciji postepenog uništenja crteža, istodobno motiviranim i dokumentiranim kamerama postavljenim na zidovima galerije i projiciranim na screen,  te ujedno sadrži i jednu drugu  jednakovrijednu paralelnu realnost; intrističku kvalitetu crteža olovkom na papiru, fragilnost, mirnoću i kontemplativnu ljepotu dobivenu polaganom i strpljivom gradnjom milijunima repetitivnih gotovo meditativnih poteza.

Karmela Puljiz























Grey


It was Walter Benjamin who started that the viewer absorbs the piece of art as an architecture, which is also capable of creating a simultaneous collective perception. This is exactly what the spacial installation by the name of ''Grey'' seems like, the work of the young author Marija Mikulić Bošnjak, who is an active participiant of the distinctly vivacious contemporary art scene in the city of Osijek.The author creates the above mentioned tactile and visual reception by ''switching the point of view with a point to view''. This work has been created for a specific arhitectural situation, and its size has been adapted to the given space; that is, it is a ''floor '' drawing on paper, whose gigantic proportions (which makes it impossible to ''make out'' the motif at first), rearrange and redefine the gallery hall, which the author sees as a good opportunity to ''take over'' and create a self - made gallery space, almost like an art - squat. The visitor of the gallery is, before discovering the motif of the drawing, faced with the gray, graffite reflection of the floor, which is necessary to be stepped onto, provoking the inevitable dialectic question of a picture of enormous proportions and a tiny fragmental situation, as the question of the inviolability and ''sanctity'' of a work of art in an exibit hall. The emphasis on the psychological dimension by means of a gigantic, technically infallible, abstract drawing, which takes over the entire flooral space, evoking an all-over effect, will, eventually, if we move sufficiently away from it, reveal a character. The motif has been inspired by a person/event from our recent past. The portrait of commeade Tito has a specific meaning for us, as for the author (who is generationally distant from direct experience, though), and it presents not only an inexaustible source of imagination and illusion, but also a stratified and, even today, contradictory meanings, where the political and social engagement of this spacial installation can be seen from. Distinct from the traditional figure of ''a monument'' with witty and even surreal characteristics, it challanges our own opinion of the history and mythology, which define our real and imaginary life. The positioning of the drawing itself; a portrait, a recreated icon from our history, challanges the political society, it ironizes, caricatures and sardonizes authorities and, inevitably, leads to a transformation and mutation as the drawing, gradually, gets destroyed. Simultaneously, motivated and documented by the cameras on the walls of the gallery, proyecting on a screen, the portrait holds both, equally valuable paralel realities; the intrinsic quality of a pencil drawing on paper, the fragility, tranquility and the contemplative beauty, created by the slow and patient process of construction by millions of repetitive, almost meditative strokes.


Karmela Puljiz


Headless

























































Adam i Eva




                                              Eva. Ulje na platnu, 150x100 cm, 2009. Vl. Ivica Kurtz                      
                                               
                                             



Adam. Ulje na platnu, 150x100 cm, 2009. Vl. Ivica Kurtz