Goran Tomčić / Without words

Friday 19 February 2010 at 8 pm, Kibela - the opening of the exhibition Without words by Croatian artist Goran Tomčić.

The works of Goran Tomčić are marked by a playful aesthetics, an inclination towards minimalist structures and conscious toying with the aesthetics of kitsch. In his works he often uses industrially produced items, which are fundamentally trashy, yet using them in a sequence, putting them in wider perspective provides them with a new symbolic value and meaning.

In Kibela the artist presents the hologram installation Eternal Embrace and the frieze Danse macabre / Dance of Death, z deloma, both works dealing with the eternal themes of love and death. The Eternal Embrace was inspired by the archaeological find from Valdara (close to Mantua), Italy, where two skeletons dating more than 5000 years back were discovered to be embracing. A theory says that after the man was killed the woman sacrificed herself so that their souls might be joined in eternal life. The central part of the installation by Goran Tomčić is thus taken up by skeleton models, whereas the soil in which they were preserved is recreated with a 3x3 meters floor collage on aluminum, made by numerous parts of cut-outs of gold holographic films. The skeletons embracing each other tightly are placed in a sea of silver heart-shaped metallic sequences conjuring up the abstract idea of the "glittery heart".
Danse macabre / Dance of Death is a frieze composed of 24 hologram collages. The iconographic theme dance of death originating in the Middle Ages is a popular motif that has inspired numerous artists in the course of history of art. It is an allegory on the universality of death that disregards the social class, at the same time emphasizing the fragility and transience of human life. Death personified leads a group of dancing characters into the grave – from the emperor to the pope and the common mortal man. Danse macabre by Goran Tomčić extends the main idea of the motif to the material world. Typically playful and colourful, the author's approach alleviates somewhat the severity of the topic, yet the depth and strength of the experience remain unaltered.
Maja Vuksanović

Goran Tomčić (1964) studied History of Art and Comparative Literature at the University of Zagreb, and Curatorial Studies at Bard College, NY. Holds MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College (1996). Lives and works in Berlin and Split.

Solo Exhibitions:
2009, “A Shimmering Heart (Gold)”, RIGO Gallery, Novigrad, Croatia
2009, “Passage”, Delikatessenhaus, Leipzig, Germany
2007, “Overlap”, The Windows at the Kimmel Center, NYU, New York, USA
2005, “A Shimmering Heart (Silver)”, Participant Inc., New York, USA
2004, “Kairos (Lost You Somewhere)”, Raccoon Space, Queens, NY, USA

Group Exhibitions (selection):
2009   “Polja sjećanja/Fields of Memory”, curated by Jasna Gluić, MKC, Split,
    Croatia
2007, “BoysCraft”, curated by Tami Katz-Freiman, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa,
   Israel
2007, “Rock n’ Roll Fantasy”, curated by Daria Brit Shapiro, White Box, New
   York, USA
2007, “Goodbye 95 Rivington Street,” curated by Lia Gangitano, Participant,
   Inc., NY, USA
2007, “on spec: Diana Puntar, Goran Tomčić”, White Box, New York, USA
2007, “Silent Benefit Auction 2007”, White Box, New York, ZDA
2006, “Pom-pom Sky,” Carriage House, Islip Art Museum, Islip, USA
2006, “Sci-Fi Lullabies”, curated by Daria Brit Shapiro, The Fireplace Project,
   East Hampton, USA
2006, “Paperworks”, curated by Daria Brit Shapiro, Paul Kopeikin Gallery,
   Los Angeles, USA
2006, “Body.City”, curated by Branko Francheschi, Gallery MC, New York, USA
2005, “Exploding Plastic Inevitable: 40 Fun Galleries“, curated by Scenic, Bergdorf
   Goodman Department Store, New York, USA
2005, “Suspended Ornament / Suspended Space”, Suite 106 Gallery, NY, USA
2004, “Art and Reconciliation,” Raccoon Space, Queens, USA

The exhibition will be on view until 6 March 2010.

Special thanks go to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMSU) from Rijeka for lending us the work Eternal Embrace for this exhibition.

The exhibition is part of X-OP project, supported by European Commission – Program Culture and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and Municipality of Maribor.