Location: University Gallery, University of Split (Ruđera Boškovića 31)

Dates: July 23 – August 13, 2026

The exhibition Dialogues, presented across both floors of the University Gallery, brings together the work of two distinguished Croatian painters, Tihomir Lončar and Mladen Ivešić. Although they come from different parts of Croatia—the south and the north—they share a deep commitment to landscape painting, distinctive artistic languages, and an understanding of landscape as a space of personal experience and artistic expression.

As curator Marin Ivanović explains, Tihomir Lončar's recent work is marked by a continuous exploration of landscape through subtle shifts in painterly expression. His depictions of the Mediterranean coast, vegetation, winter landscapes, and sacred motifs gradually move beyond descriptive representation toward a freer, more gestural visual language. Figurative elements are increasingly reduced in favor of the autonomy of brushstroke, color, and rhythm, resulting in a distinctive body of work in which the landscape becomes a vehicle for emotion and personal experience.

By contrast, Mladen Ivešić begins with real landscapes from his immediate surroundings but transforms them into universal symbols through the act of painting. His landscapes are not simply representations of place but visual reflections on the relationship between reality and the image itself. According to Ivanović, Ivešić's work formally inherits the values of modernism while conceptually belonging to a contemporary, postmodern discourse. The significance of his landscapes lies not in their faithful depiction of nature, but in their ability to express the artist's inner world and personal vision.

By bringing these two distinct artistic approaches together, Dialogues creates a space for an exchange between different poetics, sensibilities, and artistic experiences. While each painter remains true to his own visual language, their works complement one another in a shared exploration of landscape as an enduring and inexhaustible subject in contemporary Croatian painting.

The exhibition will be introduced by curator Marin Ivanović and officially opened by the Rector of the University of Split, Academician Dragan Ljutić. It will remain on view until August 13, 2026.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/Sveucilisna.galerija