Lokacija: Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače

Vrijeme: 22. kolovoza – 5. listopada 2023.

Organizator izložbe: Muzej grada Splita

Suorganizator: HULU Split

Likovni postav: Neno Mikulić, Vesna Bulić Baketić

Tehnička realizacija: HULU Split

Uz potporu: Grad Split, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija, Turistička zajednica Split

Vesna Bulić Baketić o izložbi: „Među masivne kamene blokove Podruma Dioklecijanove palače Mikulić postavlja svoje skulpture. Antičke supstrukcije ispunjava svojevrsnom retrospektivom svojih skulpturalnih ostvarenja. Ova izložba prilika je za sagledati neke od puteva kojima se Mikulić upućuje na svome umjetničkom putu.

On je najprije kipar koji slijedi narativnu nit Mediterana, ne udaljava se od životno mu bliskih tema. Ljudi, životinje, brodovi i krajolici njegova su osnovna inspiracija, potekli iz vlastitog mu okruženja. Volumeni su mekani, obli i stabilni, površina fino obrađena i intenzivno obojana. Bilo da se radi o ljudima ili o životinjama, skulptura će nastojati donijeti samu bit teme. Kad radi životinje koje žive u moru ili blizu njega, uspijeva gledatelju donijeti osjećaj blizine mora samoga. Iako od drveta, one su mekane. To je medvjedica, „morski čovik“, koji vas blago gleda, s nosićem među brkovima koji strše. Morski pas pak pliva u longitudinalnoj podrumskoj prostoriji kao da je u vlastitom akvariju. On je golem, oštar i opasan, tamne savršeno pogođene boje. Kod Mikulića zapravo iznenađuje način na koji mu uspijeva da komad drveta koji nije do kraja uglačan i fino obrađen, koji je na mjestima neravnomjerno obojan, čije proporcije ne odgovaraju stvarnoj anatomiji, na jedan izravan način promatrača vodi do spoznaje da temu prepoznaje kao iznimno autentičnu. Mornari s predimenzioniranim brkovima na neproporcionalno manjim parobrodima suvereno vladaju ne samo pučinom, nego i promatračevim fokusom koji zamagljen parobrodskim dimom ostaje uvjeren da je sve u dimenzijama u kojima upravo i treba biti. To je snaga kiparstva koje oblikuje doživljaj, a ne dimenzije.

Iako već prepoznatljive teme života vezanog uz more ne donosi na banalan način već su uvijek obložene decentnom karikaturalnom porukom, Mikuliću to nije dovoljno. Umjetnički nagon tjera ga dalje u propitivanje vlastitih granica. Iako se čvrsto drži figuralnosti i ne zapućuje se u apstrakciju, mora svoj izraz odgurnuti izvan zone komfora koja nije uvijek i nužno ugodna. Radi seriju glava gdje još više opušta potez svoga djetla, fasete na drvetu postaju grublje, glave estetski nisu privlačne, ali u svojoj grotesknosti svjedoče o Mikulićevoj umjetničkoj hrabrosti da se zaputi i korak dalje iza prevladavajuće estetike ljepote i karikaturalne dojmljivosti, te otkrije emocije koje pobuđuje estetika ružnoće.  Glave nalik totemskima, izbrazdane, s bojom koja se slijeva, u jednom momentu mogu i zastrašiti, ali na drugi pogled otkivaju alter ego onoga iz čijeg će se djetla u sljedećem momentu izroditi fini gospodin s ružom u ruci.

Mikulićeva umjetnost ukazuje na dihtomiju koja se skriva u svima nama. Stoga je ova izložba posebno zanimljiva, a k tome postavljena u arhetipskom prostoru u kojem je naslagana višestoljetna memorija. Ukazivanje na dvojnost koja se nalazi u i oko svega što nas okružuje, oduvijek i zauvijek, izniman je trenutak preispitivanja i mogućnost smještanja sebe samoga u univerzumu. Umjetnost je tu da pokaže smjer. „

Web link: https://www.mgs.hr/kategorija/nadolazece-izlozbe/?key=nadolazece-izlozbe

Location: Cellars of Diocletian's Palace

Time: August 22nd - October 5th, 2023

Exhibition Organizer: Split City Museum

Co-organizer: Split Branch of the Croatian Association of Artists (HULU Split)

Artistic Setup: Neno Mikulić, Vesna Bulić Baketić

Technical Implementation: HULU Split

With Support from: City of Split, Split-Dalmatia County, Split Tourist Board

Vesna Bulić Baketić on the Exhibition: „Among the massive stone blocks of the Cellars of Diocletian's Palace, Mikulić places his sculptures. He fills the ancient substructures with a kind of retrospective of his sculptural achievements. This exhibition provides an opportunity to explore some of the paths Mikulić undertakes on his artistic journey.

He is first and foremost a sculptor who follows the narrative thread of the Mediterranean, staying close to themes that are intimately connected to his life. People, animals, ships, and landscapes are his primary inspiration, derived from his own surroundings. The volumes are soft, rounded, and stable, with surfaces finely crafted and intensely colored. Whether it's people or animals, the sculpture aims to capture the essence of the subject. When he creates animals that inhabit the sea or its vicinity, he manages to convey the feeling of being close to the sea itself. Despite being made of wood, they possess a softness. There's a bear, a "sea person," gently looking at you, with its nose among protruding whiskers. A shark swims in a longitudinal basement space as if in its own aquarium. It's massive, sharp, and dangerous, with perfectly captured dark colors. In Mikulić's work, what is truly surprising is his ability to lead the observer to recognize the theme as exceptionally authentic, despite the fact that the piece of wood isn't perfectly polished, evenly colored, or proportioned according to actual anatomy.

Sailors with oversized mustaches on disproportionately smaller steamships command not only the open sea but also the observer's focus, which, blurred by steamship smoke, remains convinced that everything is in the dimensions it should be. This is the power of sculpture that shapes perception rather than dimensions.

Although dealing with themes related to a life by the sea, Mikulić doesn't approach them in a banal way; they are always coated with a subtle caricatural message. Yet, that is not enough for Mikulić. His artistic impulse drives him to push his own boundaries. While remaining firmly in the realm of figuration and not delving into abstraction, he must push his expression beyond the comfort zone, which isn't always pleasant or necessary. He creates a series of heads where he loosens his touch even more, the facets on the wood becoming rougher, the heads aesthetically unattractive. However, in their grotesqueness, they testify to Mikulić's artistic courage to venture a step beyond the prevailing aesthetics of beauty and caricatured impressiveness, revealing the emotions aroused by the aesthetics of ugliness. The totem-like heads, furrowed and dripping with color, might appear frightening at first, but upon closer examination, they reveal the alter ego of the figure from whose child, in the next moment, a refined gentleman with a rose in his hand will emerge.

Mikulić's art points to the duality that resides within all of us. Therefore, this exhibition is particularly intriguing, especially since it is set in an archetypal space layered with centuries-old memory. Addressing the duality that exists in and around everything that surrounds us, forever and always, this is an exceptional moment of introspection and an opportunity to position oneself within the universe. Art is there to show the way.”

Web site link:https://www.mgs.hr/kategorija/nadolazece-izlozbe/?key=nadolazece-izlozbe