izv. prof. dr. art. Lucia Labas

She was born in 1975 in Zagreb. In 1999, she graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts. In 2012, she completed postgraduate doctoral studies in art at the Academy of Fine Arts (ALU) with the topic "The Concept and Role of Invoice in a Painting: A Representation of Development and an Attempt at Definition", which earned her the academic title of Doctor of Arts (Ph.D.). Since 2004, she has been employed at the Academy of Fine Arts, today as an associate professor at the Department of Painting, and is also the head of the Department of Painting. Since 2000, she has been actively engaged in artistic work and has performed at numerous domestic and international solo and group exhibitions, expressing herself in the medium of painting but also interdisciplinary in combination with various art forms such as video, object, installation, ambience, street art, land art, photography, illustration... During his artistic and academic career, he has participated in many artistic research projects, residencies, colonies, collaborations, teaching and artistic guest appearances as a guest professor at international art academies such as Facultad de Bellas Artes – Universidad Complutense Madrid in Spain; The University of the Arts/ Taideyliopisto Helsinki in Finland; UCU/ Licenciatura en Artes Visuales, Montevideo in Uruguay; European University Cyprus, Nicosia in Cyprus; Jan Dlugosz University In Czestochowa, Faculty Of Arts in Poland. She participates in international professional art education, residencies and exhibitions at the following locations: France, Mauritius, Spain, Ireland, Poland, Finland, Costa Rica, India, Germany, Cyprus, Uruguay... Lucia Labas's artworks are in collections and public spaces: since 2019. Jaguar Luna Cultural Arts Collective, Agua Buena, Costa Rica; since 2018. Tamarin Arts Centre Tamarin, Black River, Mauritius. Numerous initiatives and projects in which she has participated (as a leader or associate) are of exceptional value for the artistic and teaching training of Lucia Labas, and she continuously further develops collaborations with colleagues from the international art world. In these ways, through new experiences, exceptional opportunities for collaboration with creative minds of today are opened, and at the same time Lucia Labas is upgrading herself not only in the context of artistic development and professional education, but in numerous aspects of acquiring new ideas, cognitions and knowledge in the sense of life.

Assoc. Prof. Prof. Dr. Art. Lucia Labas teaches at the Department of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, where she has been systematically developing teaching practice based on the research of the relationship between materials, ideas and visual articulation for more than 20 years. The curriculum includes painting techniques and technology of painting materials, theory and practice of researching painting materials through the associated expressive and technological features and possibilities, coloristics, as well as interdisciplinary reflections on painting in the context of contemporary art practice. The focus of her teaching work is an in-depth understanding of the materiality of the painting – not only as a technical basis, but also as a carrier of meaning, energy and tactile presence. Through her work with students, Prof. Labas explores how the quality, origin, compatibility and interaction of materials affect the expressiveness and conception of an image or work of art. She puts special emphasis on the relationship between the internal structure of a painting and its external appearance, with the aim of developing sensitivity to the processes of materialization of an idea and the energy charge that a work of art can convey. Such an approach is organically related to her artistic and research interests that move in the field of abstraction, a combination of traditional and contemporary painting materials, the extended medium of the image, light transitions, tactility, and bodily perception of the image. In her own work, she questions how the material structure of the painting and its spatial dynamics affect the sensory and emotional experience of the observer, thus expanding the methodological framework of teaching into the field of somatic perception and materiality in the context of the action and experience of material on the sensory, affective and conceptual levels. Through methodically designed tasks, students are encouraged to experiment and critically reflect – not only on form and content, but also on the way materials affect the observer, how they behave in time and space, and how they form specific atmospheres and perceptual relationships. In doing so, the importance of understanding the compatibility of the materials themselves, their chemical and physical characteristics, and a responsible and informed approach in the process of building an image is emphasized. In teaching, a work of art is treated not only as a space of material performance, but also of expressive sensuality and mental articulation, where knowledge is transmitted and acquired through verbal, practical, visual and experiential learning. Prof. Labas continuously develops and applies innovative approaches to teaching, supporting students in developing authentic expression and conceptual clarity through the integration of theoretical and practical aspects of the course.

The courses are dedicated to acquiring professional knowledge about the technological and expressive aspects of the painting medium, including painting techniques, processing materials and image carriers. The focus is on understanding the interrelationship and the inevitable connection between the artistic idea/concept and the expressive and technological possibilities and characteristics of the selected painting materials and procedures, and on training for the competent and responsible application of the acquired knowledge in artistic practice.

2024 – "Maskless (Exploring Creative Possibilities by Expanding the State of Freedom: Perception and Observation as Co-Creation of Reality / Module 2)", solo exhibition, Flora Gallery / HDLUDU, Dubrovnik 2021 – "Creative Possibilities Arising from the Expansion of the State of Freedom: Perception and Observation as Co-Creation of Reality / Module 1", solo exhibition, Pogon Jedinstvo: Great Hall, Zagreb 2019 – "5D Space Mandala", site-specific ambient installation / permanent work of art / collaboration with the local community / mural, objects; "Jaguar Luna Cultural Arts Collective", Agua Buena, Costa Rica 2018 – "ArtBeast Temple + GECK9euf Sanctuary", ambient installation, MULTIPLE SPACE international group exhibition (ambience, painting/installation/video/performance): Tamarin Arts Centre/ Mauritius, Tamarin, Black River, Mauritius 2017 – "Wir Sind Hunde", video work, Wow.o4/ Greece @ Twixt Lab Athens/ Greece W:OW Art – NO RETURN – (We Are One World), Athens, Greece; The New Museum of Networked Art, Kerala, India; The Refugee Film Collection? REFUGEE 2.0, Cologne/ Germany; The Refugee Film Collection/ REFUGEE 2.0, Cologne/ Germany; 2016/2017 WOW.01 – The W:OW Art Film and Video Festival @ Video Vortex XI @ KOCHI MUSZIRIS BIENNALE, Kochi, India; 2016 ART VIDEO COLOGNE, Cologne/ Germany 2015 – "Networking", video work, CologneOFF X/10th Cologne International Videoart Festival Total art - Meghalaya/ India; Cuzco/ Peru; Miden/ Greece; 2014. Cologne/ Germany; Dusseldorf/ Germany 2013 – "The Concept and Role of the Invoice in the Picture: A Representation of Development and an Attempt at Definition", solo exhibition, Vladimir Bužančić Gallery, Zagreb