Predrag Todorović, umjetnik koji kroz više desetljeća neprekidnog stvaralačkog rada vješto – možda upravo zahvaljujući intuiciji koja ga vodi – umiče svakoj kategorizaciji izražavanja unutar određenog medija. Njegov je medij eksperiment, stvarnost koja ga okružuje; bilo ona nevidljiva, taj prostor koji treba ispuniti; bilo ona postojeća, materija koju treba otisnuti. Od site-specific ambijentalnih instalacija kojima su prožeti određeni galerijski i drugi prostori, do otiskivanja tvari u radionici-ateljeu, Todorovićev rad obuhvaća širok spektar različitih načina produkcije. Ambijentalne instalacije ponekad zahtijevaju i izvanjsku pomoć, dok otiske autor većinom realizira sam, kroz handson eksperimentiranje. Rezultat je, u oba slučaja, neizvjestan, vođen iščekivanjem i napetošću, procesom i iskustvom koje u sebi uvijek nosi svježinu jer nikada nije isto niti ponovljivo.
Aktualna izložba, može se reći, kombinira oba pristupa – iako većinski nastala kroz proces otiskivanja – čime se nadovezuje na izložbu Utisci i Ljuske održanu u Gliptoteci (2020./2021.) – autor aktualnom izlagačkom prostoru pristupa ambijentalnije – kroz neki gotovo neprimjetan site-specific, on postav tek “pojačava i stišava”, “podešavajući” ga na tonove galerije AMZ, a koja je izlagački prostor upravo Arheološkog muzeja. Ili, Todorovićevim riječima, poput urara on traži točku u kojoj će izložba zaživjeti. Postav se djelomično može iščitati kao simboličko arheološko nalazište na kojem pronalazimo krhotine autorovih intimnih i fizičkih lokaliteta-krajolika, bilo na zidu, bilo postavljenih u rešetku, poput iskopina izvađenih iz zemlje. Put vodi, naravno, kroz eksperimentiranje materijalima, njihovo miješanje te konačno prilagođavanje rezultatu koji autor želi postići, a koji nikada ne može biti onaj očekivan. Čestice djela pred nama, navedimo samo neke od korištenih materijala, različite su novostvorene mase koje se sastoje od gipsa-vapnene mase, akrilnih ljepila i veziva; lateksa; talk praha; akrilnih i acetatnih silikona u raznim kombinacijama, s različitim punilima i dodacima, itd. Todorovićev rad kao da objedinjuje različita izvorna značenja riječi eksperiment – ne samo ona koja uključuju “praktično znanje”, već i ona koja upućuju na “podvig magije”, “čaroliju” koja je, u ovome slučaju, potrebna da bi umjetničko djelo uopće nastalo.
Podvig ove izložbe možda je sadržan upravo u tome da djela pred nama nikad nisu ona koja se čine da jesu. U njima je uvijek skriven drugi sloj, neka druga tvar, a ne ona koju smo očekivali; ili ona,
pak, nose neki drugi odraz, i treći i četvrti, odraz koji se spiralno širi u nove dimenzije. Promatrajući radove nastale u talk prahu, materijalu koji sadrži mineralni prah, prije bismo pomislili da je riječ o kamenu, odnosno nekoj vrsti vapnenca. Mimesis se ovdje multiplicira, prilazi mu se iz više perspektiva – sastav djela je u mimesisu jer može djelovati kao imitacija nekog drugog materijala; otisak na tom materijalu je u mimesisu jer je predmet koji je otisnut odsutan; naposljetku, i ono što rad predstavlja ulazi u sferu mimetičkog jer on nije ta krhotina, taj fragment nečega koji djeluje da jest.
S druge strane, uz dijelove poliptiha koji zbog kombiniranja materijalnosti, slučajnosti i geste mogu djelovati enformelistički, Todorović nekim diptisima pridružuje i njihov, nazovimo ga eteričniji, transcendentalniji dio. Kao i u crtežima nastalim grebanjem na limu, i ovdje je prisutna spirala – motiv za koji je Branko Cerovac već na prvoj većoj Todorovićevoj izložbi uočio da karakterizira autorovu ikonografiju. U crtežima nastalim grebanjem, spirala poprima gotovo organsku materičnost, dok je u diptisima koji kombiniraju dijelove s otiscima s dijelovima nastalim na dibondu, prisutnost grebanjem nastalog crteža minimalna, a ponekad je u potpunosti odsutan.
Dibond, kompozitni materijal (aluminij-plastika-aluminij) koji je inače umjetnicima privlačan upravo kao podloga za otiskivanje (!), osobito fotografije, Todorović ovdje koristi na sasvim suprotan način: kao površinu na koju neće otiskivati, a čak će i minimalno urezivati. U ovom kontekstu dibond primarno ima ulogu da kinetički reflektira prostor izvan sebe, a budući da mu je u diptihu par njegov bjelkast, materičan pol, novonastale refleksije kontrastom materijala postaju još izraženije.
Ta bešumna, nestala gibanja simboliziraju nešto što je prošlo, a čije se prisustvo još osjeća kroz odraz, krhotinu, trag; kroz napuštenost kojoj se uvijek može vratiti. Stoga je točka koju urar traži istinska tek kad je okružena multiverzumom prikaza. Ona je čisti izvor, onaj koji odraza nema jer mu sve imitacije dođu kao štit.
Neva Lukić
Predrag Todorović is an artist who, through decades of continuous creative work, skilfully – perhaps thanks to the very intuition that guides him – eludes categorisation within any specific medium of expression. His medium is experimentation itself, the reality that surrounds him; whether invisible, the space to be filled; or existing, the matter to be imprinted. From site-specific environmental installations that permeate certain gallery and other spaces, to the imprinting of matter in his workshop-studio, Todorović’s work encompasses a wide range of different production methods. Site-specific installations sometimes require external help, while the prints are mostly realised by the artist himself, through hands-on experimentation. The result, in both cases, is uncertain, driven by anticipation and tension, a process and experience that always retains a sense of freshness, as it is never the same nor repeatable.
The current exhibition, one could say, combines both approaches – although predominantly created through the imprinting process – which builds on the Impressions & Shells exhibition held at the Glyptotheque (2020/2021) – the artist approaches the current exhibition space in a more ambient way – through an almost imperceptible site-specific intervention, he simply “intensifies and softens” the exhibition, “tuning” it to the tones of the AMZ Gallery, which is the exhibition space of the Archaeological Museum. Or, in Todorović’s words, like a watchmaker, he is looking for a point at which the exhibition will come alive. The exhibition can be partially interpreted as a symbolic archaeological site where we find fragments of the artist’s intimate and physical localities-landscapes, either on the wall or arranged in a grid, like excavations unearthed.
The path, of course, leads through experimenting with materials, mixing them and finally adapting them to the desired outcome, which can never be the expected one. The particles of the work before us, to name just a few of the materials used, are different newly created masses consisting of gypsum-lime mixture, acrylic adhesives and binders, latex, talcum powder, acrylic and acetate silicones in various combinations, with different fillers and additives, etc. Todorović’s work seems to unite the different original meanings of the word experiment – not only those that include “practical knowledge”, but also those that refer to a “feat of magic”, a “spell” that, in this case, is necessary for the artwork to be created at all.
The feat of this exhibition, perhaps, lies precisely in the fact that the works before us are never what they appear to be. There is always another layer hidden in them, some other substance, and not the one we expected; or they, on the other hand, carry another reflection, and a third and a fourth, a reflection that spirals into new dimensions. Observing the works created with talcum powder, a material that contains mineral powder, one might initially think they are made of stone or a kind of limestone. Mimesis is multiplied here, approached from several perspectives – the composition of the work is mimetic because it can appear to imitate another material; the imprint on that material is mimetic because the object that was imprinted is absent; and finally, what the work represents enters the sphere of mimesis because it is not that shard, that fragment of something that seems to be.
On the other hand, in parts of the polyptychs which, due to their combination of materiality, chance and gesture, may appear informel-like, Todorović adds to certain diptychs what might be described as their more ethereal, transcendental part. As in the drawings created by scratching on sheet metal, the spiral is also present here – a motif that Branko Cerovac had already noted as characteristic of Todorović’s iconography at his first major exhibition. In drawings created by scratching, the spiral takes on an almost organic materiality, while in diptychs that combine imprinted segments with sections created on Dibond, the presence of the scratched drawing is minimal, and at times entirely absent.
Dibond, a composite material (aluminium-plastic-aluminium) that is otherwise attractive to artists precisely as a base for imprinting (!), especially photographs, Todorović uses here in a completely opposite way: as a surface on which he does not imprint, and on which he even minimally engraves. In this context, Dibond primarily functions to kinetically reflect the space around it, and since its pair in the diptych is a pale, material pole, the newly created reflections become even more pronounced by the contrast of the material.
These silent, vanished movements symbolise something that has passed, yet whose presence is still felt through a reflection, a fragment, a trace; through an abandonment to which one can always return. Thus, the point the watchmaker seeks becomes authentic only when it is surrounded by a multiverse of images. It is a pure source, one that has no reflection because all imitations serve as its shield.
Neva Lukić
Popis reprodukcija u katalogu/List of Reproductions in the Catalogue:
omot/cover. Tražeći svjetlo 2/Searching for Light 2 diptih/diptych | 150 x 260 cm | 2024. | fragment/detail
str. 3/p. 3. Svjetlo traži svjetlo/Light Searching for Light diptih/diptych | 65 x 170 cm | listopad/October 2024 | fragment/detail
str. 4. -5./pp. 4. -5. T1 170 x 315 cm | 2025. | u studiju/in the studio
str. 7/p. 7. Tražeći svjetlo 1/Searching for Light 1 diptih/diptych | 150 x 260 cm | 2024.
Preostali krajolik/Residual Landscape
150 x 200 cm | veljača/February 2025
str. 8. - 9./pp. 8. - 9. T2 170 x 315 cm | 2025.
str. 11/p.11. Nalaz, ZD 05. 2025./Finding, ZD May 2025
40 x 75 cm | 2025
Predrag Todorović rođen je 1966. u Drvaru (Bosna i Hercegovina). Diplomirao je „Likovne umjetnosti“ na izbornom kolegiju iz slikarstva, na Pedagoškom fakultetu u Rijeci 1990. godine. Izlagao je na više od pedeset samostalnih izložbi te na brojnim skupnim, žiriranim i selektiranim izložbama u Hrvatskoj i inozemstvu. Radovi mu se nalaze u zbirkama MMSU-a u Rijeci, MSU-a u Zagrebu i NSK-a u Zagrebu te u brojnim privatnim zbirkama u zemlji i inozemstvu. Dobitnik je nekoliko nagrada i priznanja, od kojih 1996. New York, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation – Grant, financial fund (1996 – 1997.), i 2022. New York, Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Individual Support Grant. Sudjelovao je na dva „Artist in Residence“ programa, u Kairu 1997. te u Parizu 2016. godine. Živi i radi u Zagrebu.
Predrag Todorović was born in Drvar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1966. He received his BFA from the Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Rijeka, in 1990, where he majored in Painting. He has exhibited his work in more than 50 solo, and numerous group, juried, and selected shows both locally and internationally. His works are represented in the holdings of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka, Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb and the National and University Library in Zagreb, as well as in numerous private collections both at home and abroad. He is a recipient of several awards and recognitions and also participated in two Artist-in-Residence programs, in Cairo (1997) and in Paris (2016). He lives and works in Zagreb
Kontakt / Contact: https://predragtodorovic.com/hr/ https://predragtodorovic.com/en/ srijeda@gmail.com @predrag377 + 385 91 188 0077.
