From 4 to 28 May, at the Josip Račić Gallery, the National Museum of Modern Art presents the exhibition “InnerSpacePortals”, by the conceptual artist, painter and performer Vedran Kopljar, who lives and works in Antwerp.It is the first solo exhibition in Croatia of this artist born in Slavonski Brod in 1991, who has lived in Belgium since childhood. The exhibition of the former student and today a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp is conceived by the curator Valerie Verhack. It will showcase ten works from the eponymous series, which the artist has been creating since 2020, specifically, paintings (oils on wood and canvas) that approach abstraction inspired by science fiction television series, films and literature.
In 2019, Vedran Kopljar established the Plank Communication Centre (PCC), hosted by the Belgium museum M Leuven since 2021, through which he explores the boundaries of communication. In 2018, Kopljar developed a body of work depicting organic internal cavities unfolding in different layers of flesh, each of them painted in a different hue. It is part of his InnerSpacePaintings (2018): a series of paintings metaphorically giving form to the spaces deep inside everyone’s body hosting inner emotions and thoughts. The InnerSpacePaintings were amongst others inspired by the desire of thumbsuckers who seek safety and warmth appealing to their first emotions as babies in their mother’s womb. In 2019, Kopljar changed the title of this series to InnerSpacePortals, thereby referring to passages as an inherent part of these works; they are ways of entering inner emotions and thoughts. This exhibition (wish i was there)2 shows the InnerSpacePortals that Kopljar has been painting since 2020. Formally these paintings do no longer reference human organisms but shift towards abstraction inspired by science fiction tv, film and literature. from Valerie Verhack's tekst in the exhibition catalogue.
About the Artist
1991 Slavonski Brod, Croatia
Lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium
EDUCATION
2015 MFA in painting, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp
RESIDENCIES; AWARDS
2019 Artist in residence, Residency Unlimited (NYC)
2016 Nominee, Coming People, S.M.A.K.
2014 Winner, STRT schot prijs, Studio Start
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 (wish i was there)2, Josip Račić Gallery – National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Also (HERE), LambdaLambdaLambda, / Prishtina
2022 The Misadventures of Plank Communication Center, BOEKS, Ghent, Belgium
The Cloud of Unkowing: New Teachings, CASSTL, Antwerpen / Belgium
2020 Center [pl.], CONVENT, Ghent / Belgium
2019 Plank Communication Center: Quarterly Report, RU, Brooklyn, SAD
2018 Vedran Kopljar en Evelin Brosi & Elvis Bonier, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerpen / Belgium
Thumbsucker’s Delight, Trampoline Gallery, Antwerp / Belgium
2017 Polyvalente zaal, N.I.C.C., Antwerp, / Belgium
2016 A-Amigos, Tique Art Space, Antwerp / Belgium
2015 Trials & Tribulations, Stadslimiet, Antwerp / Belgium
2014 Là-bas, Studio Start, Antwerp / Belgium
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 Window Openers, Artwell Residency, Amsterdam / Netherlands
2021 The Constant Glitch, Museum M, Leuven / Belgium
PONTI PONTI PONTI, PONTI, Antwerp / Belgium
Miniheim, Forbidden City, Antwerpen / Belgium
2020 Biënnale van de Schilderkunst, RogerRaveelmuseum, Machelen-Zulte, Belgija / Belgium
2019 Nick Lodgers – Uit Beleefdheid”, M HKA, Antwerp / Belgium
NACHBARBESUCH, TYSON, Köln / Cologne / Germany
TIME & SPACE, HERE & NOW ..., La Piscine d’Activité, Antwerp / Belgium
Positieve berichtgeving – Fluwelen Koord, Pinkie Bowtie, Antwerp / Belgium
Looking at the world through …, PLUS-ONE & Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp / Belgium
Salon de Peinture, M HKA, Antwerp / Belgium
2018 3 Jaar Oogst, Gallerie Verbeeck – Van Dyck, Antwerp / Belgium
2017 ABC Lounge Klub, ABC Klubhuis, Antwerp / Belgium
Nacht van de beeldende kunst, De Studio, Antwerp / Belgium
2016 NowBelgiumNow, LLS 387, Antwerp / Belgium
Prijs vrienden v/h S.M.A.K., Coming People, S.M.A.K., Ghent / Belgium
Het Zwarte Gat, 252CC, Ekeren / Belgium
Furniture. Sculpture., Art Center Hugo Voeten, Herentals, / Belgium
Verloren Ruimte, Antwerp Art Weekend, Berchem / Belgium
2015 Fascinator, 252cc, Ekeren / Belgium
Nema tog podruma 5: gramme vrijdag, F44, Antwerp / Belgium
Timmeren aan de carrière in het duister, De Studio, Antwerp / Belgium
Als kweeklingen in een school van …, CC Zwanenberg, Heist-op-den-Berg, / Belgium
2014 Boost, CBK, Amsterdam / The Netherlands
A L’etat Sauvage, Maison d’Art & Design, Tronçais / France
We will never surrender, Bries Space, Antwerp / Belgium
Nieuwe Meesters, KASKA, Antwerp / Belgium
PERFORMANCES
2019 Plank Communication Center: Quarterly Report, RU, Brooklyn / SAD
Meeting Center (Plank Communication Center) during
20 jaar S.M.A.K. : De Inleiding (3), S.M.A.K., Ghent / Belgium
2018 Q&A met de innerstem van Vedran Kopljar, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerp / Belgium
Innerlives: ATS’ers Digest during Night Shift, Beursschouwburg, Brussels / Belgium
Adult Thumbsucker’s Digest, Demian, Antwerp / Belgium
Adult Thumbsucker’s Digest, Trampoline Gallery, Antwerp / Belgium
2017 Verwijdering van Plicht en Toewijding, LLS 387, Antwerp / Belgium
2016 De kleinste dood during Bitte Nicht wecken, LLS 387, Antwerp / Belgium
Image: from the Vedran Kopljar's (wish i was there) 2 exhibition display at the Josip Račić Gallery / Photo: from the National Museum of Modern Art's archives and Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023
Translated by: Robertina Tomić