A4 07TH EDITION- DOMINIK VIŠNJIĆ AND DORA KRIŽNIK / MIRLUH ATMOSFERE
Solo exhibition
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts in Split is an initiative that came from the director of the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb, art historian Branko Franceschi, and will set up its 7th edition in the Šira Gallery in 2025. The basic idea of the cooperation is to connect one or several final year students of art history studies and one or more students of one of the art academies in Croatia on one exhibition project. The interesting thing about the project is that the project is designed to include students of all fine art academies in the country (Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Rijeka), and students of art history (Zagreb, Zadar, etc.). Also, the specificity of the project is that it is a traveling exhibition that is set up at 4 locations - the Šira Gallery in Zagreb, the Kortil Gallery in Rijeka, the Museum of Fine Arts in Split and the City Gallery Osijek.
FROM THE PREFACE OF THE EXHIBITION
Višnjić's work Cave is a spatial installation in which the art of graphics acquires the properties of ambience. The author uses gauze and plaster to create the walls of the cave, which he hangs from the ceiling in the form of a cochlea, while in its center he places a pedestal with a graphic book and a container with scent. The book consists of twenty prints created by Višnjić's own version of the collagraphy technique, where the stencil is made by folding hammer paper using origami techniques, which in this process stands as an allusion to the traditional making of folds on clothes – the so-called folding. The matrix is then pressed, coated with diluted cellulose glue and linseed oil, and finally printed. The result is a motif that Višnjić calls fold geometry, i.e. a regular grid of rhombuses achieved by folding paper that defies organic forms created as a result of the reaction (or non-reaction) between linseed oil, cellulose glue and water. The fragility of the matrix results in its disintegration with each subsequent print, which is why each print from it is its unique and unrepeatable manifestation. The uniqueness of the print in this technique is contradictory to the repetitive nature of graphic techniques, but it reflects Višnjić's concept in which the process of making is more important than the product itself. In the spirit of holism, the installation Cave is experienced with another sense – smell. The container with essential oils is placed in the center of the book and, turning the pages, fills the space with aromas, providing the visitor with an intimate, immersive and immersive experience of art.
The second installation, called Folds , is a direct homage to the family tradition of folding fabric. By gathering jaundice with traditional textile handicraft techniques, Višnjić establishes a connection with his ancestors, confirming the origin of his own identity. The golden thread with which the installation is embroidered is a reference to handicraft as a long-lasting and almost automated process, but also to the line of life, otherwise a frequent motif in Višnjić's art. Intended to be placed on the wall in a room with minimal lighting, this installation invites the observer to experience it not only by sight, but also by touch.
The installation entitled Garden consists of graphics made with the author's version of collagraphy and natural material – earth. The graphics, placed along the entire height of the wall, symbolize Višnjić's growth in an artistic and personal sense. However, the starting point for growth is the soil with plants located at the bottom of the installation, which refers to the family garden, i.e. the importance of the origin and identity of the individual in his life realization.
In addition to the senses of sight, smell and touch, Višnjić allows us to experience this exhibition through hearing. The sound installation Weaving was created by processing the sounds of folding and tearing paper, omnipresent throughout the entire process of making works. By involving all human senses in the experience and reading of the Cave, Fall, Garden and Weaving, Višnjić provides us with a rare experience of grounding and being in the moment today – an experience without distractions in which all the senses are engaged and focused on one and unique thing: this exhibition.
Dora Križnik
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Dominik Višnjić was born in 2000 in Varaždin, where he graduated from the Varaždin Secondary Vocational School in 2019, majoring in graphic design, after which he graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka in 2024 and became a master of art pedagogy. During 2024, he is the head of the SKC Gallery in Rijeka, and currently works as a title assistant at the Academy of Applied Arts. He is engaged in art graphics, where he explores non-toxic technologies for making it through experimentation. In his work, he questions identity and personality, which is manifested in art installations that are created by researching ethnology and anthropology as a combination of contemporary graphics and traditional handicrafts. He has exhibited at six solo and a dozen group juried exhibitions, of which it is worth mentioning the GraficaRi exhibition at the Kortil Gallery in Rijeka, where he won a special mention in the student category, the Zagorje Art Salon in Krapina, the Performance Festival in Varaždin and the Croatian Triennial of Graphics in Klovićevi dvori. In addition, he is involved in the organization of cultural events in Varaždin at the "Hajdina" association, such as the large historical exhibition "Costume Returns to Its Home" held in 2023.
CURRICULUM VITAE OF THE CURATOR
Dora Križnik was born in 2000 in Čakovec and is currently a 2nd year graduate student of Art History and English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, where she served as demonstrator and representative of the year from 2019 to 2024. Since February 2024, she has been a member of the Council of the SKC Gallery in Rijeka, and since 2025 she has been working as the head of the SKC Gallery. In June 2024, she participated in the Erasmus+ project, as part of which she did an internship at the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. In the academic year 2023/2024, she wrote art criticism for Novi List, and so far she has independently curated seven and as part of the curatorial team another six exhibitions.
The exhibition was realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City Office for Culture and Civil Society of the City of Zagreb.