Especially the comparative aspect that is to be found in the simultaneity and affinity in composition opposed by the changing modes not only in clothes but also in cultural and educational systems of value is of interest to me. The fifth painting is based on a staged photography, which is using the Frans Hals painting Members of Executive board of Retirement home in Harlem as template. The eye-catching collars on the original paintings are replaced by logotypes resembling well known brands. Through combining the group-portrait by Frans Hals, which is totally affected by gesture and social status shown in the clothes, with the other paintings I wanted to highlight the illegibility of social status in contemporary fashion. At the same time the painting is the representation of nowadays school class photographs.

When you look at the original photographs it seems that the pupils are copying their pose one from another. Taken this and the very structured positioning the pupils had to submit to, there is a distinctive note of the discipline forced upon the pupils. The dialectic of the precisely balanced and unnatural poses and positioning not only lets the spectator recognize the sujet of school class photography but also gives an insight into a specific – in this case Croatian, later Yugoslavian – model of education and a historical and cultural system of value.

The paintings are executed in drawing and oil on large canvas. The format is 1,80m x 3,60m.For this the photographs were transposed into a realistic proportion in the scale 1:1 to the human body. The graphic and two dimensional executions intend reminiscence to the poster motif. Through the medium of painting the photographs are transcended into a longer time perspective and interpreted by the painter. The photographic capturing of the moment yields the cautious convergence by pencil and brush.

The paintings are intentionally not done by projection because I wanted the drawing to be freehand and secure some inperfectionality. Furthermore every single pupil on the photographs has its own expression and impression of and in the process of being portrayed, which is not helping the suggested concentration on attitude, gesture and formalised clothing.

Besides of the comparative aspect of the work I described earlier and my interest in the highly formalized language of gesture and clothes found in these old photographs, which is telling the spectator much more than seeing the brand of the jeans or the cut of the pullover, I wanted to take a critical position and commentary on our contemporary usage of fashion. By using the logotypes in the fifth painting, the painted models become living advertisements and the identity of the portrayed is turned into a brand. Origin, cultural roots and traditional values are globally superposed by the peculiar hegemony of consumption, which has also impact on attitude and gesture. With this the specific cultural context of origin is more and more vanishing and the language of fashion turns from a formal and accessible one into a disconnected series of brand symbols, allowing in the best case to define someone’s belonging to a distinctive subculture group.

Translation Philipp Koch

Prev | Next

exhibition view 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb

exhibition view, the painting 2007 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb

exhibition view, the paintings 1930 & 1955 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb

exhibition view, the paintings 1955 & 2007 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb

exhibitions view, the paintings 1980 & 1948 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb

exhibition view, the paintings 1955 & 2007 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb

original familly photo album as a wall installation 2007, Galerie SC, Zagreb