DUBRAVKA LOŠIĆ
The Silkworm’s Cocoon (Punćela)
Opening: 8 June at 12 p.m.
Exhibition curator: Branko Franceschi
The exhibition titled Punćela presents Dubravka Lošić’s unique position as a visual artist who blends the traditional concept of easel painting with contemporary creative practices such as installation, assemblage, and the use of unconventional materials. Dubravka Lošić’s distinctive style was shaped during the 1980s, her formative years, and a time marked by a significant expansion in the visual arts toward greater freedom of content, form, and the contamination of disciplines, a creative paradigm established by the theory and practice of post-modernist aesthetics and artistic practice.
Alongside portraits painted between 2004 and 2012, the exhibition also features a selection from the cycles: Imago anima (2012–2013), Sharks (1986–2013), Dream Catchers (2015), Lapad (2016), Rain Paris (2018), Wind Catchers (2018), Alba Albula (2019), as well as a selection from the recent cycle Tondo (2020–2022).
The title Punćela, meaning “silkworm’s cocoon” in the Konavle dialect, was selected as the poetic framework for this presentation. This diverse selection is unified by the artist’s tendency to conceal the initial motif of the composition, which over the years and through various metamorphoses traced by the exhibition, has developed like a butterfly from a larva into a self-sufficient aesthetic fact that summarises all the artist’s visual and existential experiences. (from the essay by Branko Franceschi)
The exhibition layout, conceived by Dubravka Lošić and Branko Franceschi, is envisioned as a series of interconnected ambient situations, aligning optimally with the exhibition galleries and the reference cycles.
Dubravka Lošić was educated in the mid-1980s under the traditional curriculum of the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, in the class of Professor Ferdinand Kulmer. Her immersion in contemporary art developments was immediately apparent, and the painting-object, in greater or lesser degrees, has remained a focal area of her practice, whether in the narrowly understood visual arts or in the scenographic oeuvre derived from it. Following an established pattern, an artistic personality develops within general parameters by incorporating accumulated personal experiences and an individual perception of the world, shaped by a combination of cultural and environmental influences. The Split exhibition features a selection from Dubravka Lošić’s oeuvre, affirming her as a unique and incomparable artist within the Croatian art scene. She lives and works in Dubrovnik.
The exhibition remains open until 28 July 2024.
The exhibition was realised through collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Modern Art.
The exhibition has been made possible with financial support of the City of Split and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.
Images: Dubravka Lošić, Tondo, foto Veronica Arevalo / Dubravka Lošić, Alba Abula, foto Veronica Arevalo / Dubravka Lošić, Lovci na vjetar, foto Damir Fabijanić / Dubravka Lošić, Pariz (detalj), foto Damir Fabijanić / Dubravka Lošić, morske psine, foto Damir Fabijanić