Goran Trbuljak
1#(4)a
Artist
Goran Trbuljak
(1948 - ), Croatia
Original Title
1#(4)a
Date1986
Mediumpaint on canvas
Dimensions33,5 × 27 cm
Classifications
paintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionGoran Trbuljak is a renowned Croatian artist and cinematographer whose postmodern approach to art was ahead of its time. His artistic practice was significantly influenced by the Zagreb’s informal atmosphere and by the New Tendencies exhibitions, which focused on non-traditional art forms and on the artwork’s communication with viewers. In line with the Yugoslavian artistic movement known as New Art Practice, Trbuljak approaches art from a position of non-art. As a conceptual artist, he places emphasis on the idea as the foundation of artistic creation, as well as on producing artworks in series. His practice incorporates diverse mediums, ranging from photography, manipulated photography, and public actions to painting, frottage, film, and books; he also works with the format of exhibition posters (Galleria del Cavallino, Venice, 1977), which he elevates to an autonomous art form. Important components of Trbuljak’s work are text and simple slogans, which he uses to explore the status of art, the artwork, the artist, originality, exclusivity, and authenticity. He subversively challenges and undermines the systems underpinning museums and galleries, the market, the economy, and broader political life; alongside this socially critical dimension, his work equally addresses himself as an individual. Hence, Trbuljak has always managed to retain his artistic autonomy. A vital element of his work and public actions was incorporation of the audience, whom he would even ask whether they considered him an artist (Referendum, 1972). Trbuljak similarly employs humour and irony in his approach to himself: during the early 1970s, he used a Xerox to create a self-portrait of his own head. He subsequently used this new technology to create an entire series, which vastly differed from traditional portraiture painting while still preserving the psychological dimension of exploring one’s own face. In the context of painting, his approach can be defined as anti-painterly, anti-aesthetic, and anti-elitist, rejecting artistic subjectivity and conventional approaches to painting. In the early 1990s, Trbuljak began working with frottage, which completely suppresses the artist’s unique stylistic expression characteristic of modernism.
1#(4)a (1986) depicts a blue rectangle without clearly defined boundaries against the base layer of the canvas. The piece thus addresses the phenomenon of the monochrome as one of the essential themes of 20th century art. It represents Trbuljak’s exploration of the question of artistic originality, rooted in the ability to react to existing artworks and their potential minute transformations.
Goran Trbuljak (born 1948, Varaždin) lives and works in Zagreb. Gaining a grounding in art while studying applied arts in high school in Zagreb, he subsequently studied graphic arts at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Trbujak then went on to study cinematography at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. He became active on the Zagreb art scene during the late 1960s. One of the first times he exhibited as a solo artist was at the international exhibition New Tendencies 5 (Zagreb, 1973). Recent solo exhibitions of his work have been held at institutions such as the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka (2019); the Apoteka, Ljubljana (2020); the Villa delle Rose, Bologna (2019); the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Ženeva (2018); the Muzej-Museo Lapidarium, Novigrad (2016), and the P420, Bologna (2014). Trbuljak’s work has featured in numerous group exhibitions at internationally renowned institutions, such as the Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana (2013; 2017); the FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2016); the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA, New York (2015); the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2015); the Museo de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro – MAM Rio (2014); the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2010). He has also represented Croatia at the 47th and 51st Venice Biennale (1995, 2005). Trbuljak is also a prominent cinematographer; his films include Lost Homeland (directed by Ante Babaja), The Rhythm of Crime (directed by Zoran Tadić) and The Stallion Didn’t Like Him (directed by Branko Schmidt). Trbuljak has also directed numerous animated and documentary films. In the past, he worked as a graphic designer for several magazines (such as Polet, Novine Galerije SC, Gordogan, and Svijet) and designed numerous film posters and exhibition catalogues.
1#(4)a (1986) depicts a blue rectangle without clearly defined boundaries against the base layer of the canvas. The piece thus addresses the phenomenon of the monochrome as one of the essential themes of 20th century art. It represents Trbuljak’s exploration of the question of artistic originality, rooted in the ability to react to existing artworks and their potential minute transformations.
Goran Trbuljak (born 1948, Varaždin) lives and works in Zagreb. Gaining a grounding in art while studying applied arts in high school in Zagreb, he subsequently studied graphic arts at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Trbujak then went on to study cinematography at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. He became active on the Zagreb art scene during the late 1960s. One of the first times he exhibited as a solo artist was at the international exhibition New Tendencies 5 (Zagreb, 1973). Recent solo exhibitions of his work have been held at institutions such as the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka (2019); the Apoteka, Ljubljana (2020); the Villa delle Rose, Bologna (2019); the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Ženeva (2018); the Muzej-Museo Lapidarium, Novigrad (2016), and the P420, Bologna (2014). Trbuljak’s work has featured in numerous group exhibitions at internationally renowned institutions, such as the Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana (2013; 2017); the FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2016); the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA, New York (2015); the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2015); the Museo de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro – MAM Rio (2014); the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2010). He has also represented Croatia at the 47th and 51st Venice Biennale (1995, 2005). Trbuljak is also a prominent cinematographer; his films include Lost Homeland (directed by Ante Babaja), The Rhythm of Crime (directed by Zoran Tadić) and The Stallion Didn’t Like Him (directed by Branko Schmidt). Trbuljak has also directed numerous animated and documentary films. In the past, he worked as a graphic designer for several magazines (such as Polet, Novine Galerije SC, Gordogan, and Svijet) and designed numerous film posters and exhibition catalogues.
