Tomislav Buntak
Meditation – Fireflies in the Garden, 2010
acrylic on canvas
180 x 200 cm
MG-7164

Tomislav Buntak (b. 1971) is one of the most prominent postmodern figurative draughtsmen and painters in Croatia. Quotation is the central principle of his painting practice, which he uses to creatively transform methods and motifs from the visual heritage of humanity, literature, pop culture, and comics, preserving and deepening them in the process. His commitment to figuration and his continuous exploration of painterly and drawing languages endured from a period unfavourable to such expression to a time when it became contemporary, paving the way for new generations of artists. His drawings, and often his paintings, are characterised by two- and three-tone shading. Such multifaceted light-and-shadow arrangements are evident in his painting „Crucifixion“ (2006), where echoes of Mannerism are refracted through Buntak’s postmodern (neo-)mannerist lens. His originality manifests in the restricted tonal palette within individual sections, in the monumentality and pathos of his compositions, in figuration and elongated proportions of the figures, and in the subtle emotional charge of works like „Meditation – Fireflies in the Garden“ (2010). Buntak’s artistic range includes paintings, drawings, wall murals, and site-specific ultraviolet installations. Highlights include exhibitions at MMSU, Rijeka (2004); P.S.1, New York (2005); and the Art Pavilion in Zagreb (2008). He graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1997, in the class of Miroslav Šutej. A recipient of numerous awards, his works are held in major Croatian museums and galleries. Since 2018, he has served as the President of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists (HDLU) and as Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. His monograph, authored by Branko Franceschi, was published by Fraktura in 2012.

Text: Željko Marciuš, Museum Advisor, National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb