Sculptor Branko Vlahović to Exhibit in New York
- by croatiaweek
- in Entertainment
Six works by Croatian sculptor Branko Vlahović (1924 1979) will be on display at a major exhibition titled ‘Other Primary Structures’ at the Jewish Museum in New York, curated by Jens Hoffmann…
The exhibition is set to take place in two series Others 1: March 14 – May 18, Others 2: May 25 – August 3, 2014 and will feature sculptures by artists working in the 1960s in Asia, Latin America,the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa and reexamine the historic Jewish Museum show Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors (1966) from a global point of view.
Branko Vlahović graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1951. In 1953, he completed his postgraduate studies under the sculptor Frane Kršinić. His earlier works explored geometric forms similar to architecture. Works during the 1966 1968 period are closed objects of cubic volume executed in patinated wood, while between 1968 1974 he abandoned symmetry and produced most of his works in black sheet metal. Towards the end of his career, he worked with highly polished metal. Vlahović’s works are considered to represent the most important examples of Minimalism in Croatia.
“International recognition of the artist’s extraordinary intuition, courage and consistency whose art was not recognized in the right way by the critics and audiences in the sixties. Vlahovic has developed his concept of formerlyradical reductionism without being in contact with American minimalism, although the similarities are remarkable. Until recently his art was out of the focus of Croatian experts and the general public. This performance contextualizes it with global stars of American minimalist art such as Frank Stella, Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre and Donald Judd and places the artist in the company of world contemporaries such as Lygia Clark, Stanislav Kolibal or Hélio Oiticica. This treatment will inevitably contribute to the internationalization of work by Branko Vlahovic but also redefine the status of the Croatian art scene of the late 20th century”, said Tihomir Milovac, Advisor and Head of the experimental research department at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
