Miroslav Šutej
Print, 1974
ink on paper; watercolour
665 x 780 mm
MG-3380-2
Miroslav Šutej graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1961, in the class of Marijan Detoni. He was a member of K. Hegedušić’s Master Workshop and subsequently became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in both Zagreb and Široki Brijeg. While initially formed in the tradition of Op art, he later expanded his work to include vibrant collages and picto-drawings, drawing inspiration from popular and folk culture.
The Print, created using ink and watercolour techniques, consists of several colouristically marked objects connected to paper, allowing them to be moved. Sections of the drawing can rotate 360 degrees around their axes, crossing the edges of the artwork and continuously forming new shapes. In doing so, Šutej produces an open work, a concept introduced by Umberto Eco, which aims to blur the lines between the artist and the observer. By interacting with and modifying the artwork, the observer transitions from a passive recipient to an active creator, developing a new piece that the artist has only suggested, thereby leaving the potential for its creation open.
Text: Filip Kučeković curator intern at the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb