JAKOV PAŠALIĆ / NIGHT IMPRESSIONS
Solo exhibition
FROM THE PREFACE OF THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition Night Impressions by Jakov Pašalić presents a series of prints that depict the night atmosphere of the city and its surroundings. The works depict specific moments marked by contrasts of light and darkness. The city changes at night – while light shapes its presence, darkness gradually takes over it, erasing details and leaving only fragments of space. The artist documents these fleeting moments in scenes that exist only when they are illuminated. The night, the time of tranquility and the moment when the noise dies down, becomes a space of introspection. Without hesitation and distractions, the focus shifts to what remains, to light trails in the distance, to presence and absence, to silence. In these scenes, the emphasis is not on the event, but on the very experience of space in which people are invisible, but their presence remains recorded in lit windows and illuminated streets. Although the observer remains alone, the city is never completely empty. Light segments create the illusion of life, while their distribution is constantly changing.
In this cycle, Pašalić deals with the dynamics of light and shadow, exploring their interdependence. Each graphic is precisely built by balancing these elements, where even the smallest spot of light plays a key role in the composition. The artist's interest in night scenes stems from his personal experience of growing up in the center of Zagreb, in a peaceful environment that is also part of the bustling urban fabric. The nights especially expressed this contrast – empty streets, windows in which only a few lights are burning, the arrangement of which is constantly changing from evening to evening. The absence of light impulses of the city's nightlife allows the viewer to focus on subtle changes, on their own presence in the space. In this peace, between the darkness and the illuminated fragments, the paintings become a space of contemplation where the observer is not just a passive viewer, but a participant in the quiet atmosphere of the night.
Emma Sabljić
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Jakov Pašalić (1999, Zagreb) is a second-year graduate student of fine arts, majoring in graphic arts in the class of Assoc. prof. dr. art. Igor Čabraja at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. His main interest is traditional graphic techniques (linocut, aquatint, serigraphy, etching) with which he explores rhythm, contrast of black and white, abstraction and distortion of shapes and textures of surfaces. He is inspired by the motifs of light in the urban landscape and abstract organic forms. In 2024, he exhibited at the group exhibition of the 9. Croatian Triennial, Klovićevi dvori (Zagreb). He has participated in several graphic workshops (e.g. Osijek Graphic Arts Workshop, Academy of Arts and Culture, 2022) and the educational and artistic research project of the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb Matrices: Absurd (2023-2024). He is the winner of the Rector's Award of the University of Zagreb for Igor Kuljerić's opera Animal Farm(stage design, 2022).
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.