Opening: Wednesday, March 11, 2020. at 7 pm
Tomo Savić-Gecan, arguably one of the most radical artists of the middle generation, has been living in the Netherlands for many years wherehe is actively continuing his work, in addition to guest appearances in other countries, and has confirmed his status on the international scene. This is his first major solo exhibition in Croatia, which will present thirty years of his work.
Tomo Savić-Gecan right from the beginning placed the phenomenon of ‘nothingness’at the centre of his activity, and he builds on the practices of neo-avant-garde and conceptual artin a contemporary code. His works, in many cases interactive and processual, most often neutral, minimal and intangible to the extreme, regularly titled Untitled, will be re-performed in the exhibition space, the so-called "white cube", which is this artist’s main medium and at the same time the only certainty in meeting the observer. Since all the works are by nature site specific, one might ask if this is really a retrospective. Other important issues also remain open, as Elena Filipovic specified in the text of the exhibition catalogue: ‘But what if the show opens and then closes and a participating artist’s contribution — listed somewhere so that there is seeming evidence of its existence — couldn’t be seen or otherwise aesthetically experienced? What if it will only exist as such, which is to say, as an aesthetic object, at another time and in another place and yet its participation in the exhibition (and your participation as the visitor) is crucial to that existence?'
At Retrospective 2020, Tomo Savić-Gecan will also present a work created in CERN, the world's leading particle physics laboratory in Geneva, where he was on a residency in 2017 as winner of the ACCELERATE Croatia Award.
Tomo Savić-Gecan (born 1967 in Zagreb) has participated in numerous exhibitions in Croatia and abroad, including exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Basel, PS1 (New York), KunsthalleFridericianum (Kassel), De Appel (Amsterdam), Apexart (New York), Witte de With (Rotterdam), Jeu de Paume (Paris), Kunsthalle Bergen, etc., and major international events including: Manifesta, Venice Biennale and Taipei Biennale.
Exhibition curator: Radmila Iva Janković
Bez naziva, 2007. / 2017. / 2020.
(Apexart, New York; Kunsthalle Basel; MSU Zagreb)
Vrijednost umjetničkog rada je umjetnički rad; vrijednost je u kontinuiranom stanju devalvacije.
Untitled, 2007 / 2017 / 2020
(Apexart, New York; Kunsthalle Basel; MSU Zagreb)
The value of the artwork is the artwork; the value is in a constant state of devaluation.
The exhibition and the catalogue have been realized with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Culture, City of Zagreb – Municipal Office for Culture, Mondriaan Foundation, Croatian Ministry of Science and Education, City of Rijeka and Stokroos Foundation.
Honorary Partner: Arts at CERN
In cooperation with: Architects Society (DAZ) and Radio Taxi Zagreb
Sponsors: Gorica Glass d.o.o. and Zagrebšped d.o.o.
Works that are not in the exhibition space:
