From Press release:
The region’s complex and intense socio-political situation significantly slowed the recognition and affirmation of local artists globally, as the split of the former federation and the wars that followed put everything on hold for over a decade. The reintegration into the dynamics of global life took a long time, and during all those years, generations of Croatian artists developed in a very particular setting. And as we see nowadays, those crippling circumstances transformed with time into an advantage and the foundation for distinctiveness. So, by exposing the next generations to some of the most remarkable works by their recognized peers from around the globe, That’s What’s Up! hopes to provide another link between local and global efforts.
Driven by this bloom of talents, Croatian-born and raised writer and curator Saša Bogojev has curated an energizing and absorbing exhibition. In collaboration with the newly-established Trotoar Gallery in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, they’re aiming to fuel the further development of the scene. By exploring the artists’ techniques, concepts, visual languages, and backgrounds, the exhibition offers a relevant selection of works for local artists and art enthusiasts alike. These include works nodding at pivotal moments in the history of painting (Van Minnen, Birns); works influenced by technology or contemporary aesthetics (Hofmann, Brawner); painterly languages that emphasize surface and texture (Cross, Lai, Ericsson, Ruiz, Santy); visuals that push reality to the edge of surrealism or even further (Scholl, Schuldt); or those where the rules of the material world and common sense are rendered irrelevant (Proux, Lundy).
As a milestone moment of sorts, the show’s idea is to motivate, inspire, and empower the local scene by showcasing some of the most exciting, outstanding, and masterful painters working today. Not in a presumptuous, “we know better” way, but by providing an insight into where painting is and/or can be taken by considering the selected works’ technical, thematic, and historical relevance. Aiming to bring a top-tier selection of painters to Croatia, the exhibition delightfully announces – That’s what’s up! (or To je to! in Croatian).
Text by Saša Bogojev
Sara-Vide Ericson (f.1983) studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2004–2009). She lives and works in Hälsingland, Sweden. With exhibitions in Sweden and internationally she has been established as one of the most influential artists of her generation in Sweden.
In her practice, Sara-Vide Ericson re-enacts thoughts, experiences, fantasies, desires and dreams. The artist often employs staged photographs of her family and friends as well as her sensory memories as the foundation for her paintings. Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, Ericson’s works are vessels that carry meaning from beyond the canvas. Something ancient, something wild something you can’t quite quantify. They challenge our perception of real, fiction, authorship, emotions and notion of existence. An awakening call from the wild.
Participating artists:
Sara Birns
Tim Brawner
Martyn Cross
Sara-Vide Ericson
Julius Hofmann
Timothy Lai
Danica Lundy
Laurent Proux
Javier Ruiz Pérez
Kristof Santy
Dennis Scholl
Kristina Schuldt
Christian Rex Van Minnen
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