Lovro Artuković
Lovro Artuković (born in 1959 in Zagreb) is a contemporary Croatian painter and graphic artist who primarily paints large scale figurative canvases. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Artistic career
For nine years, until 2003, he worked as an assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb. He then moved to Berlin where he still works as a freelance artist.
His painting style is based on the theme of intimism and explores the figurative using the iconography of urban civilisation. In the 1980s many of his works focused on portraiture and the artist's wife figures as the most prominent sitter. His works then developed through the 1990s, although never directly painting the war which he experienced, (Croatian War Independence) his self-portraits and portraits of couples of this period reflected an atmosphere of war.[1] After 2000, Artuković created a series of "Votive Paintings", which used real characters reconfigured into allegorical scenes. The characters in these Votive Paintings would wear written messages on their clothes for example, in the painting 64, (2006), Artuković paints himself wearing a T-Shirt upon which is written "God How I Love Botticelli". One of the artist's best known, and most controversial works is called, the Signing of the declaration of the unification of Western Herzegovina and Popovo Polje with the Republic of Croatia (Wer hat das bier bestellt?) (2008). The making of this painting features in Igor Mirković's film L.A. Unfinished.
His works are kept in gallery institutions and many private collections such as that of Neda Young, New York, the Filip Trade Collection, Zagreb and the Essl Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna.
Exhibitions and Awards
He has had numerous group and solo exhibitions, including:
- Museu da Água, Lisbon (2002).
- The Repository, the Textile Factory Zagreb TKZ (2004).
- Zero-gravity Paintings, Labor 019, Berlin (2004).
- Painting and Object, Artists' Gallery, Dubrovnik (2004).
- Observation, Prima Center, Berlin (2005).
- 64, Josip Račić Gallery, Zagreb (2006).
- Ball of Fame, Umspannwerk, Berlin (2006).[2]
- Declaration, Haus Ungarn/.BHC Kollektiv, Berlin (2008).
- Island Map, Gallery Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb, (2008).[3]
- The Best Paintings, Gallery Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb (2008). A selection of the artist's works from 1984 - 2008.[4]
- Gledati druge / Looking at Others, Art Pavilion in Zagreb, (2009).[5]
Awards:
- Artuković received the Croatian Society of Artists Award for best exhibition in 2001.
Films inspired by Lovro Artuković
- The experimental film Theft, (2004), directed by Lukas Nola was inspired by the theft of the artist's works during an exhibition in Spain in 2002.
- The documentary film L.A. Unfinished, (2008), by Igor Mirković.[6]
Published works on Lovro Artuković
- Purgar, Krešimir - The Neo-baroque Subject, (Meandarmedia 2007).
- Perica, Blaženka - The Best Paintings, (exh. Cat, Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb, 2008).
Personal life
Lovro Artuković's father is a cousin of Andrija Artuković, minister in the govoernment of Independent State of Croatia, sentenced for war crimes.
References
- ↑ Richter, Mihaela, Salamon, Sabina & Žanko, Vanja - Finalisti, p.12, (ex. Cat, Filip Trade Collection, 20/07/2009).
- ↑ Kiš, Patricia - Exhibition in Berlin: Artistic invite to the Football World Cup, Jutarnji, 15/05/2006, (accessed 24/02/2011).
- ↑ Golub, Marko - Island map: Group exhibition, Dnevni Kultur, 07/07/2008, (accessed, 24/02/2011).
- ↑ Kiš, Patricia - Od mladalačke raspršenosti do uozbiljenja stečenim iskustvom, Jutarnji, 25/04/2008, (accessed, 24/02/2011).
- ↑ Golub, Marko - Looking at Others in the Art Pavilion, Dnevni Kultur, 12/02/2009, (accessed, 24/02/2011).
- ↑ A film about Lovro Artuković, fictional history and the big picture, Večernji List, 11/02/2011, (accessed, 24/02/2011).