Marijana Muljević
The Red Corridor, 1984
oil on canvas
140 x 120 cm
MG- 4276

Marijana Muljević’s painting The Red Corridor from 1984 is an example of the artist’s recognisable style. The concept of her paintings is based on a refined selection of motifs that overlap and are juxtaposed with distinct and pure architectural elements, moving away from mere reproduction and imitation of reality, thereby creating a surreal atmosphere. The Red Corridor exudes a mystical atmosphere achieved by the contrast of red doors and the floor of the corridor realised with a slanted perspective and cool and mysterious background walls.
Marijana Muljević was born in 1948 in Zagreb. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1971, in the class of N. Reiser. After having distinguished herself as a collaborator in K. Hegedušić’s and Lj. Ivančić’s Master Workshop in the period from 1973 to 1977, she continued her career as a freelance artist. She staged her first solo exhibition in 1975 in the Gallery of the Nikola Tesla Factory in Zagreb, in 1978 she won the Grand Prix at the 13th Zagreb Salon, and she participated in many group exhibitions. She uses the photographic image as a template and paints in the manner of New Figuration and Hyperrealism, and by employing the method of decomposition and montage she achieves a multi-layered artistic expression (Blue Painting, 1980). In her later works, she paints architectural structures in which the metaphysical prevails over the mundane (House, 1998; Dimensions of Space, 2000–2001).

Text: Lorena Šimić, trainee curator of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023
Translated by: Robertina Tomić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023