Lana Stojićević

Neoornament

2023

Exhibition Duration: November 10, 2023, to February 10, 2024

Gallery Manuš, Livanjska 6, 21000 Split

www.galerijamanus.com

manus.galerija@gmail.com

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM

The theme of the artistic exploration "Neoornament" is the complexity of the location on the western coast of Split's harbor, where a cement factory has been situated since the 1860s. A century later, the modernist Hotel Marjan, designed by Lovre Perković, was built on the site of the factory. After privatization, the hotel underwent expansion, various interventions, and degradation, but the renovation project was never completed. The hotel is now being demolished, and the new owners have announced the construction of an interpretation of the original project. Simultaneously, the cement factory is perceived as an insufficiently explored part of industrial history, as well as a symbolic source of cementification. Under the name Gilardi and Bettiza, this factory also produced concrete decorations that are often in poor condition today, prompting owners to sometimes creatively and inadequately restore them. In this phase of the multi-year project, the authentic architectural decoration from the facade of the Dujmović-Stock building in Split was digitized using a 3D scanner and mechanically replicated on a 1:1 scale, evoking the factory's serial production. Although the image of a terrified facial expression from the decoration repeats, its fate changes due to various interventions, exploring the rohbau and makeshift aesthetics of the former state of Hotel Marjan, amateur restoration of original decorations, and the aesthetics of degradation. Contemporary interpretations of architectural decorations adapt to the visual-architectural phenomena that surround us, visualizing the modern relationship with industrial and architectural heritage.

Lana Stojićević (born 1989, Šibenik) is a visual artist working in the field of artistic exploration. Her works address themes such as illegal construction, architectural and industrial heritage, environmental pollution, contemporary non-styles, cultural heritage devastation, and landscape transformation as a consequence of mass tourism. She graduated in 2012 from the Department of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Split. Since 2022, she has held the position of an assistant professor at the Department of Visual Culture and Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Split. She has received several professional awards, including the Erste 3rd Prize at the 36th Salon of Youth (Croatian Association of Fine Artists, Zagreb, 2022), the Radoslav Putar Award (YVAA, Institute of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2021), the third Ivan Kožarić Award (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2021), the Metro Imaging Award at the New East Photo Prize exhibition (Calvert 22 Foundation, London, 2016), and the Annual Award for Young Artists (Croatian Association of Fine Artists, Zagreb, 2015). She has participated in various residency programs, including Residency Unlimited in New York, Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and Kulturvermittlung Steiermark in Graz.