Presentation room of the HDLU

Trg žrtava fašizma bb

Friday, 23rd January, 2009 at 12h

Josip Butković: From printmaking to the new art practice and back again

Publishers: HDLU / Josip Zanki, president and City Rijeka / Vojko Obersnel, mayor

Editors: Branko Franceschi, direcor HDLU and Darko Glavan

Design: Bachrach & Krištofić

(…) A review of the work in art to date of Josip Butković and the appertaining fortuna critice makes very clear that processuality and the consistency of the mental activities along with the profound respect for the printmaking art are the basic features of

his personal poetics. The number and imposing physical dimensions of his graphic works, as well as his openness to the testing of new possibilities in and forms of artistic behaviour give him the legitimacy of being a full participant in the New Art Practice who has made crucial contributions not only contemporary printmaking but also to the entirety of innovative domestic art practice in the last almost score of years. Hence it is no exaggeration to claim that Josip Butković has left a trace on and won an anthology place in not only the history of Croatian contemporary printmaking but in the new Art Practice of the second half of the 20th century and beyond. It is also crucial to mention the parallel movements in Butković’s creativity and his work as a teacher, which are inextricably interwoven, since his students from Rijeka and Osijek have been regularly involved in the production of his most radical artistic projects. “It is not just a mere transfer of knowledge, of technical and technological procedures or a meticulous chasing of the individual styles of the students, but concerns activities that make up the totality of the artistic life and the creation of an artistic personality, such as exhibitions (student pieces or the participation of the students at collective shows at home and abroad) printmaking colonies, work with children, publishing portfolios of prints, work in the Chalcographic Studio of Butković – a kind of graphic post-graduate course” stated Berislav Valušek, concluding that “every school (to be a school) must have its teachers, and in this sense the greatest acknowledgements must go to Josip Butković”. With his examples as teacher, promoter and artist, Josip Butković is the most to be credited with the reputation of the Rijeka school of printmaking and for the consistent establishment and maintenance of a “differential code that characterises and enriches the Croatian printmaking scene” (Sveštarov Šimat, Margarita, rekompozicija i kontrapunkt, Vijenac, June 15,2000).

Remaining lastingly faithful to the print, Josip Butković has consistently expanded the possibilities for it to take part in contemporary adventures in creative art.

Darko Glavan

Invited presenters are: Mr. Josip Zanki (president HDLU), Ms. Ivanka Persić (principal of the Department for the Culture of City Rijeka), Mr. Josip Butković, Mr. Branko Franceschi (director HDLU), Mr. Darko Glavan, Ms. Sanja Bachrach and Mr. Mario Krištofić (designers).