ARCHITECTURE IN VISUAL ARTS

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Miljenko Bengez, Zdravko Ćosić, Marcus Goldson, Predrag Goll, Kristina Jeić, Francois Jolly, Mirjana Koren, Alem Korkut, Denis Krašković, Goran Majetić, Bane Milenković, Saša Novak, Rajko Svilar, Matko Vekić, Mirjana Vodopija and Branko Ružić

15 November - 12 December 2002

Galerija Balen has brought together sixteen artists that deal with the theme of arhitecture in their work. They belong to different generations and come from different places, their architectural experiences and artistic personalities are equally diverse. Altogether they offer a fascinating and deep view of architecture in visual arts.

Town
Some artists view the town from outside as a fortress whose city gates remain closed, stressing the might of civilisation over the human individual. For others the town is something very organic, its architecture natural and appropriate to the environment and human comforts. While some artistically reconstruct real cities, for other artists only the imaginary ones offer the ideal human habitat.

Urban Infrastructure
In some visions, bridges becomes a romantic motif, and appear in the blue colour of water, in others they represent a critical approach to overbuilding of the contemporary world. Here the grey colours of concrete dominate over all others, as much as in some modern cities the colossal urban infrastructure dominates human scale living.

Street
As one of the most common motifs in art, the street attracts with its changeability and continuity. This is especially true at night, when a walk through the public space of the streets offers the unbounded possibility to gaze into the private spaces of unknown persons, provoking feelings of both belonging and alienation, and above all the instinctive curiosity awakened by the lit window.

House
In some works this intimate and protective architecture finds its ideal free territory in nature, in a secluded valley. The connotations of 'my home, my freedom' are though just as applicable to urban living, where the inner courtyard or a high vantage point can offer similar feelings of security and wellbeing.

Interior
Bathed in an artificial light from outside, the domestic interior takes on mysterious and unpredictable qualities. While natural light pouring through stained glass into a sacral interior moves the artist to recreate in painting a sense of the architectural sublime.

Inner Architecture
Common to all of us is a subconscious longing for home. For some artists the only close approach to the theme of architecture is through the tectonics of the body and the inner architecture of the self.

Tectonic of Reason
One of the characteristics of our culture is a recognised need for aesthetic values. Searching for pure forms and geometry, paying special attention to light and shade, as much in architectural practice as in some of the works here, reenacts the dominance of our rationalist mindset over living forms.

The Essence
Conceptual art opens our minds to the essential character of architecture and makes us aware of basic building processes, the importance of balance and physical laws. We shouldn't forget that buildings fall down as well as go up, and that we belong to a culture that nourishes a fascination with cycles of construction and collapse.