Boris Demur
Liberalization of Means, 1974
collage, mixed media
129 x 186 cm
MG-6992
Using various materials such as obituaries, cardboard packaging, and text, Boris Demur created the Liberalization of Means in 1974, through the process of collage and interventions with dark blue and green colors. By consciously controlling the psychological process through the use of an obituary with the name Ante, he equates the meanings of words with the act of collage, evoking emotions in the observer and making the collage visually memorable.
Conceptual artist Boris Demur (1951-2014, Zagreb) obtained a degree in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1975, in the class of professor Raoul Goldoni, and in the same year, he enrolled in professor Albert Kinert’s printmaking class. At the same time, he attended the Master Workshop of Ljubo Ivančić, which he completed in 1977. Since 1975, he has been a member of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists (HDLU) and one of the founders and members of the Group of Six Authors, which operated through exhibitions, actions, projects, and performances from 1975 to 1978. Demur has been working as a freelance artist since 1994 and has held around 80 solo exhibitions and participated in over 200 group exhibitions, actions, performances, and artistic concepts in Croatia and abroad. He represented Croatia at the 23rd São Paulo Biennial in 1996 and was awarded the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Marko Marulić in the same year. Demur has received several valuable awards and recognitions, and his works are included in collections and permanent displays of significant museums and galleries, as well as numerous private collections in Croatia and abroad. In 2004, a retrospective exhibition of Boris Demur's painting and sculpture was held at the Modern Gallery in Zagreb (today the NMMU), featuring works created from 1970 to 2000.
Text: Lorena Šimić, trainee curator of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023