EXHIBITION: VISUALITY OF ARTIFACTS

EXHIBITION: VISUALITY OF ARTIFACTS

 

Location: Museum of Fine Arts Split (Ulica kralja Tomislava 15, 21000 Split)

 

ANA SLADETIĆ - VISUALITY OF ARTIFACTS

curator: Ana Čukušić

Duration: February 2 - March 5, 2023

 

In the Museum of Fine Arts, Ana Sladetić creates a playful and unconstrained environment in which social problems are passed through an optimistic filter and paintings, etchings, embroidered fabric, LED lighting and ceramic sculptures, albeit seemingly chaotic, coexist harmoniously. Having realised her concept using an entire range of available art objects, traditional and contemporary media, she shows that her creative imagination easily transcends one form as she engages in complex site-specific projects. The artist uses humour, an attractive and striking colourway aligned with the principles of consumer psychology, the economy of attention and a mish-mash of motifs based on repetition, as strategies for communicating serious messages and a critical engagement in which she re-examines ossified cultural patterns that define our modern life: gender stereotypes, irresponsible use of natural resources, media-visual pollution, disappearance of handicraft.

 

A permanent motif that is multiplied through all media as a pattern, thus connecting structural segments of the Visuality of Artifacts exhibition is the motif of the vessel. Ostensibly an extremely simple utility object, it is a surprising and almost trivial choice with abundant contextual potential. The motive behind the selection of pottery vessels is partly autobiographical, since some of them, like the artist herself, come from Slavonia. They are archaeological artifacts and oil lamps from the Vučedol site, traditional gourds and rakija brandy pitchers with ethnological motifs, and pottery from the artist’s household. Furthermore, Ana Sladetić incorporates in her works antique hydra water pitchers, porcelain teapots and jugs included in the installation Porcelain Song by the visual artist Momčilo Golub, on permanent display at the Museum of Fine Arts, and industrial packaging of today’s products by renowned brands. By selecting archaic pottery that is obviously handcrafted and industrial packaging, she highlights aesthetic, creative and ecological violence, which threatens the utter collapse of the value system, because of the need for accelerated production and consumption.

 

More information is available at https://galum.hr/en/exhibitions/exibition/1764/.

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