Artist Statement
I make art because it enables me to express my real authentic self – my feelings, my imagination and thoughts as well as my visions about the society I would like to live in. My vision is to contribute to cultural diversity with my creative energy and inspire others to express their creative potential too. In this way everybody can participate in shaping a more tolerant, open and emphatic society of creative and responsible individuals. I see this goal as major purpose of art in general and of my art in particular.
Biography
Anita Kontrec (born 1954, Zagreb, Croatia) moved to Cologne, Germany in 1989 short before the war in her country. Being herself a nomadic artist, the topic of migrations, cultural identity and communication have become a recurrent theme in her work. In cooperation with Museum Ludwig, Cologne, she dedicated her second solo exhibition in Cologne (“Earth-War-Ashes” ,1992) to the problem of refugees and devastation of cultural heritage. Having both academic and artistic background Anita Kontrec often combines the language of science and literature with the language of visual arts. Read More
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 – Script and Architecture (with Ivan Meštrović), John David Mooney Foundation, Chicago
2018 – Healing Houses, Laval Nugent Gallery, Zagreb
2017 – Project HOUSES AND DREAMS (Personal and Group Exhibitions):Personal Structures, Palazzo Mora Venice / 57. Biennale Venezia, Italy
Forum Tomizza, Palazzo Gravisi, Kopar, Slovenia
Dulwich College, London, UK
2016 – Kružni tok/ Kreisverkehr/ Roundabout – Retrospective, Gallery “Prsten” Zagreb, Croatia
2014 – Angels, Art Meneghello, Palmižana, Croatia
Stripes & Dots, Gallery Arthur, Dubrovnik, Croatia
2012 – ArcheFarb, Kunst in Technologie Park, B. Gladbach, Germany
Art Project Be Happy Gallery, Haidakhan, India
2010 – Nevidljiva Ruža / Invisible Rose, Atelijer Meštrović, Zagreb, Croatia
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Timeline
2019 – first solo exhibition in USA /”Script and Architecture”, John David Mooney Foundation, Chicago
2017 – returned to Zagreb
2016 – Retrospective exhibition Kružni tok /Kreisverkehr/Roundabout in Gallery “Prsten” / Meštrović Pavilion, Zagreb
From 2000 till today – working with numerous Croatian and European art institutions, museums and galleries
1989 – moved to Cologne and continued her art career in Germany working with some leading museums and art institutions such as Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Ludwig Forum fuer internationale Kunst, Aachen; Frauenmuseum, Bonn
1986 – first solo exhibition “Shapes of Memory” in DDT Gallery, Zagreb
1982 – 1989 – worked on her fire clay sculpture in the brick factory “Zagorka” near Zagreb
1972-1979 – studied literature, sociology and cultural anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy and attended sculpture classes at Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb
1954 – born in Zagreb, Croatia
Studio & Art Residences
I am a nomadic artist who has lived and worked in both my home-lands – Germany and Croatia – for the last three decades. During that time I was also working as an artist- in -residence in several other countries – France, UK, USA. Those were the most inspiring experiences – meeting many international artists and curators, teachers and students – I have learned a lot from all of them, which has had a great impact on my perception and practice of art. I am very grateful to all of them!
2019 – John David Mooney Foundation, Chicago
2018 – John David Mooney Foundation, Chicago
Cité internationale des arts, Paris
2017 – Dulwich College, London
2013 – Spinnerei, Leipzig
Art Critics about my Work
Dr. Peter Lodermeyer, art historian about Picture Objects
“When Kontrec began using synthetic resin with pigments for her work in 2004, it seemed to be a real cut, almost a break in her work. Since that time, she has been focusing on color as a new theme in her work. However, this has not meant a shift from sculpture to painting, because she does not use color for merely painting flat surfaces. For her is color pure energy. In her picture-objects, the sculptural themes of space, volume, material and texture continue to play an important role.”
Anđelko Hundić, Art historian, Zagreb
“The main feature of Anita’s early work is, in my opinion, her research into the poetics of visual (language), looking for forms of transmitting metaphysical and irrational messages as an intuitive experience rather than rational understanding. Thirty years after her first solo exhibition her works and ways of artistic expression are still inspiring due to their authentic artistic energy and freshness.”
Dr. G. Kolber, Museum Ludwig – about the exhibition “Earth -War- Ashes”, Cologne 1992
“On the ground floor of the Cologne City Hall Spanische Bau, right across from the historic City Hall of Cologne, a procession of dark figures seems to have halted mid-step. These figures are at a human scale, appearing as pairs or single persons, mostly women and children. Their heads are bent, looking down, in resignation, astonishment, and consternation. Read More
Dr. Aleksander Flaker, University of Zagreb – about my exhibition RECALL BYBLOS in Zagreb
“In this exhibition the Phoenitians are a big metonimy, pars pro toto, standing for all cultures which have made great contribution to mankind and than disappeared. Phoenicians have left us 22 letters which is quite a big contribution when we think of the fact that it has provided basis for writing texts in numerous contemporary languages. Read More
Iva Körbler, art historian, Zagreb / from the preface to monography “Kružni tok / Kreisverkehr/ Roundabout”, 2016
“On the Croatian artistic scene the conceptual tendencies of similar ways of thinking can be found in the records, notebooks and black boards of the distinguished artist Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, one of the founders of conceptual art in Croatia. However, unlike the work of Anita Kontrec, Mangelos’ artwork is much closer to the tradition of the Dadaist objects, Read More
Iva Körbler, about my picture objects
“In only two years, between 2004 and 2006, the artist created a series of picture-objects that predominantly consist of two shades of pigments, combined in utterly unpredictable, atypical pairs of colours, beyond the strict rules of complementariness or contrast. /…/ Colour, as pure energy, receives in these works an entirely new dimension; a semi-transparent character of polyester enables the light of day or artificial light to pierce through the picture-objects, turning them into vibrant bodies of colour.Read More
Iva Körbler, about my work with feminist topics
When Anita Kontrec deals with feminine subjects through history, Anita Kontrec can never be placed within the aggressive ideology of feminism, but rather, she very subtly lets it be known that without the female energy – which appears to be passive and on the receiving end – our world would collapse entirely. In this project Anita Kontrec also uses some ready-made elements of artwork, like the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp, but she makes repeated references to Beuys’ heritage, using organic substances as materials of short duration. Read More