STUDENTI UMJETNIČKE AKADEMIJE U SPLITU ODSJEKA LIKOVNE KULTU / NEW GRAPHIC STORIES

NEW GRAPHIC STORIES

This exhibition of graphic prints made by students of the Arts Academy in Split primarily strives to present the works which – in their technical and aesthetic quality as well as clarity of individual expression – best correspond to the specifics of the graphic medium.

For the same reason our curator conception is not led by an urge to create a thematically and visually uniform exhibition, but instead it is based on contraposition and unity of different perceptions.

Trying to directly point out the subjective within the general, this collection exhibits heterogeneous works which speak a wide graphic language.

By transcribing the old and opening some new visual paths, the graphic expressions and modalities evolve in different directions: from symbolically expressive, meticulous etchings and modular photogravures to fine weavings of digital drawings, process and informel research as well as redefined objects.

With carefully chosen motifs, these artists take us into a wide field of discourse which subtly intertwines the contemplative worlds of autobiographical and metaphoric imaginaries, while also pointing us to the re-evaluation of solid social archetypes.

As a whole, this exhibition is based on clear individual narratives, regardless of whether we are reading the content through suggestive relations between shapes, surfaces and lines, and is thus partly aimed at freedom of perception of the observer, or the found motifs get repetitively negated, hiding the traces of their visual identity.

Leaving their distinctive, figurative, abstract or conceptual features aside, these graphic works are characterized by the strong affirmation of traditional skills and the reciprocal manipulation of new digital media, while skillfully avoiding traps of sheer technicism.

The precision of statements is defined by the harmony of conceptual, technical and aesthetic component of the works, highlighting a well conceived and wide artistic approach.

All of the above is a result of hard working devotion by the students’ and their mentors’ (izv. prof. art. Edvin Dragičević, doc. art. Slobodan Tomić and doc. art. Maja Zemunik,) whose longtime work based on the implementation of fresh visual approaches, techniques and technologies aims to improve the Printmaking program at the Arts Academy in Split.

It is also necessary to point out that this exhibition presents only small section of graphic prints from an otherwise rich Art academy printmaking fundus, concentrating primarily on those made in the past few years.

This selection include mostly works made within the Graduate Study Program of Department of Visual Culture and Fine Arts, but also works by students from the Painting department.

It is our pleasure to highlight that the art works by some of these young artists have already gained recognition from a wide audience on numerous exhibitions in Croatia and abroad, while others are given a chance to present their creativity for the first time.

Disregarding their individual efforts and experiences, all of them got the same amount space to use their individual visual language and under either intimate or general social resonances tell us some new graphic stories.
Maja Zemunik