“Monochromies” is a group exhibition of an international character that requires works to be monochromatic (black-white-gray).
Selector and coordinator: prof. Luis Ritoša
Exhibition setup: Luisa Ritoša, Ivan Valušek
It is possible to enter the competition with works made in any technique or medium.
Deadline: 05 25 2022.
A catalogue will be published as part of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be hold from 27.06. – 09.07.2022. at the Gallery “Juraj Klović”, Rijeka.
What to submit via e-mail, to rijeka.hdlu@gmail.com
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- photographs of work, maximum 2 works
- dimensions and technique of work
- year of origin (not older than 5 years)
- short description of the work (artist statement)
- short biography of the author
(Max about 5-6 sentences)
The condition for participation in the exhibition is above all monochromatic work.
Media, technique and motif are free and not given: painting, sculpture, video, performance, installation, photography are considered.
Preference is given to works that deal with contemporary topics, and are socially aware.
The number of authors in the exhibition is limited.
If you are selected you have to bring and take the works from the Gallery in person.
Introduction text:
Nowadays, when the optic nerve is overload with absorbing various colorful information from the media, images and scenes, and this process takes place constantly via mobile phones and monitors, watching commercials offered on every free wall, bus, car, we are saturated and we need a moment of optical rest. The challenges of modern life today include pandemics and war, which acts as an additional mental and physical burden.
A gallery space can be a space where a scene is construct to relax us, to give us the opportunity to slow down, stop, meditate, escape, and think.
Monochrome is an interesting background for the art play; depriving ourselves of color, we remain with certain basic elements and relationships, and certain purity. In Art history, we find monochrome as an inspiration in a wide range of areas: from design to contemporary art. “In essence, monochrome emerged as a genre in the world of art in the wake of minimalism, as a way not to break the connection with painting sharply, or as a need not to move completely “behind” painting, in the subject world, in the realm, but in all this and as an expression of fidelity, i.e. devotion to literary aesthetics, which completely denied the pictorial.” (Michael Fried)
Today, minimalism is offered as a counterbalance to consumerism, as a symbol of possible balance. Monochromatic scene – in itself taken away from colour, variegation, offers a kind of silence soothes external stimuli and exposes objects to the necessary, essential, shapes, and relationships.
However, monochrome does not necessarily mean narrative minimalism. Apart from being an effect by itself, we can enter monochrome through symbols; it can be a symbolism that inspire us, the contrast of black and white, negative and positive, the contrast of external or internal, good and evil.
Alternatively, symbolism can be read from just one tone, and does not need a contrast, a work from just whiteness (innocence, joy, and purity), grayness (depression, everyday life), blackness (sadness, darkness). It can be a basis for a fairy tale, a story, various artistic wanderings and fantasies. Monochrome itself does not have to be the bearer of the work, the bearer of the work can be objects and motives per se.