Izložba “April’s spells” Antona Horvatovića otvara se 22.travnja 2023., u The Palm Beach galeriji, Rue Meyerbeer 61 – 1190 Bruxelessu/Belgija.
Izložba ostaje otvorena do 27. svibnja.
Opening night: Saturday April 22nd from 5 to 8pm
Exhibition April 27th to May 27th.
April’s Spells
Anton Horvatovic (1976) is a Croatian artist with over 20 years of experience in painting and graphic design. After studying art in Italy, he moved to Brussels where he now lives and works.
Since the first early stages of his research in painting, he has been attracted to the technique of collage. In his works, he combines images and fragments from various historical periods and cultural backgrounds. This unexpected reconstruction of open-ended forms results in compositions that invite us to dream, and in dreaming to recall and interpret his work in our way.
In some pieces, fantastical landscapes become a celebration of the emptiness and beauty of nature. While in others, we discover the strong presence of anonymous yet recognisable figures. Through vivid and playful works of colour, Anton’s compositions are a multilayered research into the nature of light and visual perspective.
April’s Spells is an exhibition that combines a selection of artworks inspired by nature’s awakening and unfolding of spring as it flourishes into new life. The revival of the metabolic processes after the desolation of the winter hibernation is like the whispering winds of a spell that flow through the art, enveloping it and bringing nature’s habitats back to life. It is the artist’s desire that these works of art have a similar effect on us, dragging us gently from the everyday monotony of our lives and awakening us back to a more primal life.
The natural environment in its constant state of flux is the main element of Anton’s work and reflects his childhood. Growing up on the island of Mali Losinj in Croatia, Anton saw how the dramatic fluctuations of the seasons, the waters, the weather, and even flora and fauna all constitute the fluidic scenography of everyday life. The natural landscape forms the omnipresent backdrop for the imaginary characters of the artist’s work.
It is against this backdrop that Anton’s collages pursue the unveiling of the natural forces, in the same way, that alchemy once searched for an explanation of the earth’s natural elements. Alchemy was one of modern man’s first attempts to explore natural elements and codify its messages, this once again is a strong influence on Anton’s work.
Anton experiments with the discovery of reality, not by merely copying or imitating it, but by making an abstraction of it and therefore opening it up for interpretation. His approach to landscapes is like gazing through our memories, associative thoughts and process of self-identification. A landscape is never neutral but strongly rooted in our past experiences and our ability to recognise ourselves inside it.
Change occurs when an artist’s images reach our memories. Fascinated by the spell, we dwell on thoughts that can’t be accessed otherwise.
Text by Pavel Yanchev