Tomislav Nikolic INVOCATIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Julie Ewington ed., Juliana Engberg, Justin Clemens, Marielle Soni, Andrew Jensen, Tomislav Nicolic

“There is a lot of libido in the works of Tomislav Nikolic. An excess of desire which throbs and pulsates — palpitates — like some disco night atmosphere full of adrenaline and exaggerated lust. No!, you say. Nikolic’s works are exquisite, beautiful, serene, transcendent, mystical, spiritual. Yes, Ok they are, but they are also a bacchanal, carnival and a mardi gras; a late night in a mosh pit when things get loose and hyperventilated. They are all — everything. Yet restrained. Constrained, tamed and framed within a limit so that the libido’s extravagance can be managed and harnessed to gain the maximum effect.” — Juliana Engberg

The book Invocations of Consciousness is a first survey of the impressive oeuvre of Australian artist Tomislav Nikolic (1970), edited by Julie Ewington. His abstract paintings seem to radiate energy — libido, as Juliana Engberg phrases it — for they are colours in conflict, yet remain pictorially logic events. The result of a slow and complex alchemy but drawn from emotional experiences, they are what Julie Ewington defines as “paradoxical places”, opening the canon of modernist Colour Field painting to the brutality of subjective contemplation. Essays by Justin Clements, Juiana Engberg, Julie Ewington, Andrew Jensen, and a long conversation between the artist and Marielle Soni sound the depths of this paradox.

“Ours is to explore our responses to his paintings, to the experience of colour, the title of this 2015 painting, borrowed from Alice Bailey, neatly states the project: All revelation, however, when put into words and word forms, loses something of its divine clarity. That revelation is ecstasy. The joy of standing outside oneself. (Just give it time.) There are many paths to ecstasy — singing, dance, meditation, breathing techniques, sex, and, yes, drugs. But there is also colour. One response to the haunting question, ‘What colour is the sacred?’ is that every colour must be so, in different ways. If it is mobilised. That colour not only illuminates, but also constitutes the necessary brevity of experience. Here is the paradox of Tomislav Nikolic’s painting: by entering the mystery, you may achieve the ecstasy of being transported, may glimpse existence beyond yourself. However fleetingly.” — Julie Ewington tomislav nikolic (°1970) was born in Melbourne, Australia, where he lives and works. He is a self-taught artist who introduced himself in the world of abstract painting. Meanwhile his work is in numerous collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Chartwell Collection at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. He was awarded the Bulgari Art Award in 2017.

ISBN 9789463937344