After London, New York, Philadelphia, Stuttgart, Ljubljana and Dubrovnik, with the exhibition “Reproduction”, the artist Selma Hafizović presents her works for the first time to the Zagreb audience, which will be on view at the Josip Račić Gallery from 4 to 30 April.

The exhibition, conceived by art historian Romina Peritz, presents nine recent oils on canvas from the artist’s eponymous series. Selma Hafizović’s painting “Rabbit”, in which she deals with memories and childhood, as well as expectations from her own body, was inspired by children’s books, while the painting “Rose”, as the only one that stands out stylistically in this series with the motifs of pink flowers on a neutral background, is dedicated to the American painter, graphic artist and draughtsman Philip Guston, one of her artistic role models. In the painting “Couple”, the artist evokes a passionate moment between lovers with intense colourway and energetic strokes, while the work “Tootsie Roll” humorously deals with the theme of reproduction through the male body hovering in space with gigantic spermatozoa floating around it.

Selma Hafizović points out: “My intention from the very beginning was to appropriate the artistic language in such a way that gives me continued satisfaction. I wanted my observer to be in a state of cognitive dissonance”. “All the skills that I lack in real life, I possess in painting. You need to have vision but not abide by it, you need to have fear but overcome it, and then after all is said and done you need to be aware that you really know nothing about painting”,

The artist was born in Mostar, raised in Southern California, and she lives and works between New York and Dubrovnik. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and has completed her postgraduate studies at Goldsmiths University of London. She has so far staged 11 solo exhibitions and participated in 11 group exhibitions. She is also well known for her curatorial projects Gatara at the Dubrovnik Summer Games in 2021, and Get Out of My Star at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Zagreb in 2020.
The exhibition at the Josip Račić Gallery is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue in Croatian and English.

Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023.