THE CONCRETE UTOPIA Ivan Picelj and New Tendencies 1961 – 1973
Under the Patronage of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti)
The Concrete Utopia: Ivan Picelj and New Tendencies 1961–1973 Curated by Ilaria Bignotti Private view: Thursday, 26 May, 6–8:30pm On view: 26 May – 22 July 2016 Cortesi Gallery, 41 & 43 Maddox Street, W1S 2PD London Cortesi Gallery is delighted to present The Concrete Utopia: Ivan Picelj and New Tendencies 1961–1973, an exhibition that explores the neo avantgarde of the sixties and seventies via the work of Croatian artist Ivan Picelj (1924–2011). As one of the founders of the New Tendencies movement, Picelj’s work presents a fascinating opportunity to re-examine this exciting period. Curated by Ilaria Bignotti, the retrospective features more than 40 works by Picelj, retracing the significant developments of one of the movement’s leading figures. Picelj is renowned for his persistent pursuit of the perfect relationship between perception and knowledge. Through his rigorous ideation and infinite patience for repetition, his forms become a concrete utopia, created as a better way to see, feel and experience the everyday in life. About Ivan Picelj Ivan Picelj (Okučani, 1924–Zagreb, 2011) was a painter, sculptor, designer and graphic designer. A student at the Fine Arts Academy in Zagreb between 1943 and 1946, he abandoned his studies to begin experimental research that moved away from the impositions of the official art language.
In 1951, together with architects Bernardo Bernardi, Zdravko Bregovac, Zvonimir Radić, Božidar Rašica, Vjenceslav Richter and Vladimir Zarahović, and painters Vlado Kristl and Aleksandar Srnec, Picelj founded the EXAT 51 group (Experimental Atelier 1951). This was the first Yugoslavian abstract art group, active during the first half of the fifties in the then-dominant climate of socialist realism. The group played an important role in Croatian art; its program advocated the synthesis of all visual art, an idea inspired by the legacy of Russian constructivist avantgarde and Bauhaus experiences. In 1959, Picelj began a successful collaboration with the Denise René Gallery in Paris, as well as with international galleries such as Howard Wise in New York, Baruch Gallery in Chicago and Galleria del Cavallino in Venice. In the early sixties, he was one of the founders of the New Tendencies movement, which shared several central themes with Picelj’s work, covering for the group as the role of editor of the BIT international magazine, and for the designers of posters and publications that were linked to it. Since that time, Picelj has produced several limited-edition artists’ books, collaborating with Richter, Vasarely and Alviani, amongst others. In 1962, he wrote the manifesto titled, For Active Art, which clearly shows his inclination towards avant-garde thinking. His works have been exhibited in many renowned local and international institutions and are included in several international museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and Boymans Museum in Rotterdam. Since 2012, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb has maintained a collection of Picelj’s work, as well as his archives and library. These formed an important gift from Anja Picelj-Kosak to the institution, contemporary art scholars and the public.
View of the exhibition, Surfaces by Ivan Picelj, Howard Wise Gallery, New York,1965.
Views of the exhibition Ivan Picelj, Galleria del Cavallino, Venice, 1969.
Bills for nove tendencije 2, 1963, designed by Ivan Picelj.
Candra, 1965 white-painted metal on white-painted wooden panel 100 Ă— 100 Ă— 6.5 cm
Leukos 2, 1966 white-painted steel 208 × 58 × 11 cm
Leukos 2neg, 1966 black-painted steel 208 × 58 × 11 cm
Surface LIX, 1964 brass and aluminium on wooden panel 60 Ă— 60 Ă— 3.5 cm
Surface LVI, 1964 wood, brass 70 × 70 × 4 cm
Hetos 2, 1971 aluminium, wood 37.5 × 40.5 × 6 cm
Wertho, 1972 modules of aluminium on wooden panel 80 Ă— 80 Ă— 9.5 cm Not for sale
CTS-I, 1966 black, red and blue-painted metal on white-painted wooden panel 90 Ă— 90 Ă— 7.5 cm
Surface XXX, 1963 wooden panel 100 × 100 × 3 cm
Surface XIII, 1962 black-painted wooden panel 58.5 × 58.5 × 7.3 cm
Surface XVII, 1962 black-painted wooden panel 40.5 × 40.5 × 5 cm
CM-3-II, 1964-66 print, acrylic, chipboard 102.5 × 102.6 × 1.8 cm
CM-2-17, 1966 print, acrylic paint, chipboard 102.2 × 102.5 × 1.8 cm
CM-3-II, 1964-66 print on canvases on 4 wooden panels 100.5 × 100.5 × 4.5 cm
CM-5-I, 1964 collage on cardboard 64.4 Ă— 64.4 cm
2/10-I B&B-I, 1969 silkscreen on paper 70 Ă— 70cm
Untitled, from the Cyclophoria project, 1971 ca. silkscreen on paper 68.1 Ă— 68.1 cm no.: 1/20