Hana Belobrk / Dialogue with the Street
Solo exhibition
FROM THE PREFACE OF THE EXHIBITION
The cycle of works by the artist Hana Belobrk entitled "Dialogue with the Street" consists of several paintings of medium and smaller formats created in the oil on canvas technique and site-specific works for a specific space in which she exhibits. The works were created during 2024 and 2026 as part of the graduate thesis of the same name, with which the artist graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka.
She developed her ideas through the research of different theories about public and private spaces and their connection with people who contribute to the dynamics of these spaces with their being. The process of creating these works continued with the idea of walking, which is targeted insofar as in walking (which is a necessary part of her everyday life) she consciously pays attention to nature, people, architecture and every part of the urban organism. She finds motifs spontaneously, being a flanner, guided by the theory of walking, with the unique goal of slowing down, noticing, listening. It is this slowing down that leads to the moments in which she notices a delivery service in the morning, a light that falls on a friend in a café or a smile that she shares with her mother at the checkout of a store. Aware of potential omissions and forgetting, she records important moments with a mobile camera and thus creates a template that later becomes an image, and she records this process in the form of a diary entry. In painting, she uses old canvases, which nurtures her need to recycle, and such a canvas provides her with an old texture and color, thus realizing her plan to "build" her painting. For the final result, we get paintings that provide an identical atmosphere of her experience, giving us to feel the warmth of a café, the humidity of the cold winter air or the excitement and liveliness of a market.
For her, space is a place of endless possibilities, which vary from person to person, creating a series of moments that make that space richer, rejecting its given dynamics. In this context, she is also guided by Michel de Certeau's theory of street art, who believes that space does not necessarily have to be strictly given, but is subject to human experience, thus opening up space for us to leave our own mark on an already defined building through street interventions. This also creates new possibilities for reinterpretation, which finally lead to an open place of dialogue to question where and how we live.
With her works, Hana Belobrk gives a glimpse into her mind, her emotions, but she also encourages us to stop and pay attention to our surroundings and thus slow down as much as we can in a world where hustle and bustle is no longer a strong enough term for how we live.
Nikolina Vucković
FROM THE CURRICULUM VITAE
Born in Koprivnica, in 2000, Hana Belobrk is a visual artist based in Zagreb who primarily works in the medium of painting. In 2025, she graduated in painting from the Academy of Applied Arts of the University of Rijeka under the mentorship of prof. art. Emilija Duparova. In her work, she explores the relationship between personal experience and urban space. In addition to painting, she works in film and documentary formats. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, student biennials and street art festivals in Croatia and the region, and developed visual identities for music festivals and bands. Since 2025, she has been a member of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists.
The exhibition at the Šira Gallery can be viewed during the Gallery's working hours (Mon-Fri: 9-16 h, 18-20 h, Saturdays: 11-16 h) until 2/10/2026.