Ring Gallery, PM Gallery, Karas Gallery

Exhibition of Recent Works of HDLU members

7th July - 31st August, 2009

Disputes about Recent Reality

Many are the reasons so far put forward, and more are being heard incessantly, against the holding of the annual exhibitions of members of the Croatian Artists Association in Zagreb (they started being held in 1973 and were then called Exhibition of Recent Works of Members, and hence the term “The Recent”, popular even today). Well, it is too big, it’s boring and tedious, there is absolutely no point in it for, apparently, panoramic cross-sections without any gathering point to do with the subject, the medium or the problem area are simply old hat, a form of the presentation of artwork that has long since been superseded.

Indeed, one might one wonder: why then, this kind of event, when, as some would have us believe, it has no kind of purpose at all? (And such a doubt is by no means the privilege of our setting alone.) However, that basic, very widespread interest among the members to have it held – deriving from the wish to have their work presented in the company of others – still prevails. And this is reason enough to nourish the endeavours to have it go on. Now instead of the quandary: to exhibit, or not to exhibit, there is another question: yes, exhibition, certainly, but what kind of?

I have heard various comments and proposals. From opposition to any kind of role for a selector (“why do I need a frustrated selector, who after all can’t even draw, to select my works?”), the desire for absolute democracy (“all equal in some great fairground hangar, let people exhibit whatever they want, without setting up any criteria”), stringent judgements (“a multi-member commission should give points to the pieces in order to make up a fi nal choice”), via the wish for it to have an

important role (“every member should fi nd it an honour and a duty to exhibit with his or her fellow members at least once a year; anyone who doesn’t want to shouldn’t be in the association”), to the understanding that some kind of coordination has to be, probably, in place. Simply because the crumbling of the Recent, with respect to quality, has been remarked upon. The obvious consequence of the absence of those members who, dissatisfi ed with its form, the fellow exhibitors, the ultimate appearance, no longer wish to take part (a vicious cause and eff ect

circle thus being created: the absences because of bad quality, and bad quality because of the absences and so on). Here, however, we are coming close to the topic that generates the whole state of aff airs: the Association in Zagreb currently has 1270 members; it is interesting that there has been no drastic increase in the exhibitors at the Recent: from the 118 of 1982 – for example – in 2008 we have arrived at 123. The number itself should be no problem, rather, the ratio of the works that have something to say to those that quite simply do not.

A chance, then, to see the situation in one place certainly ought not to be sniff ed at. It is important for an artist to see his or her own piece as compared to that of others, to the reviewer to have a comprehensive insight into the current situation, the gallerist to judge the interest, to the general spectators… And we cannot say that it is important for the public, at least until it becomes the kind of prestigious social event that recalls to historical memory the period of the Paris Salon when the chance to see a mega-exhibition of several hundred exhibitors was awaited and taken by tens of thousands of visitors (at the fi rst exhibition of the Independents for example there were more than 5,000 pieces of more than 400 artists). Superfl uous comparison? Perhaps, for that was a very diff erent time, and a diff erent social setting, but even today the potential of the attractive power that the visual arts have manages from time to time to be presented in great style, and the Association has no need at all to refrain from such considerations. Preparations along these lines were heralded, and this year’s selection and set up should be understood as a transitional phase to future and more viewer-friendly recent exhibitions.

Whatever the case, we all need good will in our approach, to be able to notice the gleams of invention in the forest, the making strange of reality, the poetry and the live spirit. This is good will that allows our attention to be drawn by the works themselves, without the aid of any kind of outrages (which also, at least sometimes, can be welcome). Of course, mediocrity is very hard to avoid; not everyone is always a grade A student. We might allow the possibility of comparisons, and the discovery of some new values (alongside the confi rmation of those that are well known, that are already established), of remarking innovativeness – if we do not look with a parti pris, in the mingled diversities.

What, then, has happened with The Recent, 2009? With the purpose of achieving (restoring) the relevancy of this event, a certain number of artists were specially invited, which most of them readily took up, enlarging thus the total amount of exhibitors (among whom there is the category of “not selected”, but also present according to the logic of the institution of member of the Association). We shall see the result very soon. However, irrespective of the fi nal judgement, I am of the opinion that the views that I laconically expressed in the letter to members four months back might well stand repetition: Artistic practice is constantly celebrated or disputed. In truth, we might say that in all areas of human activities. But still, seldom is that expressed so extremely, with such diametrically opposed utterances of delight or belittlement as in the visual (once just the fi ne) arts. Of course, there is a wide area of indiff erence here and a varying degree of acceptance or rejection. There are many factors that aff ect and indeed condition an appropriate reception of a work and on which

it depends. One of these factors, a basic one, is certainly the professional organisation, that is, its activity. The Association of Croatian Artists in Zagreb (HDLU), as association that promotes the work of its members, by the very nature of its mission is bound to do its best to have as high quality a presentation of their creative work as possible. The Exhibition of Recent works of the Members of the Association should be able – according to a long tradition that has had its breaks and its oscillations with respect to purposefulness and quality – to submit to public view current production (not older than two years), created in all the disciplines, from the classic media to the new. Hence this year too the exhibition will cultivate the principle of openness, without imposing any concept that inevitably, alongside the structurally built topicality and interest, also imposes constraints. However, if in the preparatory phase, during the gathering of exhibits, a certain subject whole is profi led [which did not in fact happen – sic est in fatis], we would allow the possibility of it being specially and separately articulated in the context of the whole exhibition.

For the Recent!

Nikola Albaneže 

Zagreb, June 18, 2009

Exhibition opening: