Sandro Đukić
BodyScan
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“I have always perceived the world of art very personally, as lifestyle, more than production or creating a product it was creating spiritual space.” ”I am interested in Tom Gotovac as an idea, a view on the world, an ethic principle. His introduction into public space, what he represents as a critic of the system and a curious man questioning the boundaries of art and life, helps me position my own identity as well,” said Đukić, who used new technological procedures to continue the ideas of Gorgona, early experimental film, New Tendencies, New art practice... In 1990, at the exhibition Images Objects, where he displayed his self-portraits at the Gyptotheque for the first time, Đukić turned to displaying himself, the project Tomislav Gotovac dedicated his life to. Đukić's self-referential portraits, in which his model transforms into characters taken from his own cinephile cornucopia, reflect Gotovac's credo – “it's all a movie.”
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Tomislav Gotovac, who despite his bourgeois origin always felt like a loner from the social margins, provoked aesthetic and ethical laws of the world in which “the only thing with real value is what the society rejects.” Posthumously, mediated by Đukić, Gotovac uses this occasion as well to anarchically provoke the cult of beauty and youth through self-erotic pornography and self-parody. “His opinion was the same as mine: that the changes inthe social paradigm, after all transitional processes, result in body recolonization. That today, perhaps more than ever, we are in a war for the right over our own bodies,” explained Đukić.
(An excerpt from the text: BodyScan, exhibition catalogue, Leila Mehulić, 2013)
Journey around the world in 100 days
“The background images from my Journey around the world in 100 days are from photo stocks; I picked such landscapes that are able to cover the whole world – I ‘hired’ the spaces for my desired journey – and edited them with my self-portrait.” What did he want to achieve with those representationsmade bychroma key editing? Credibility? Longing? Diverse exhibition set-ups will to some extent influence how we perceive this work: when it is exhibited as a multiple sequence of photographs, it functionslike a linear diary structure. It is possible to view them in a loop because we can hardly (if at all!) recognize a sensible beginning and end. Of what?The skies are supernaturally blue, adorned with clouds, which are perhaps also theresult of some previous editing or alterations. What is real in them, except our facing the consequences of media manipulation, though, this time without drastic consequences? The work can also be realized as a spatial installation. Đukić uses the same images presenting them as stills on screens mounted on high monolithic bases, which he positionswith equal spacing around a spread table. In its centre, there is a built-in screen with one of the scenes from the imaginary journey. We assert its symbolism – because there are twelve chairs, but this number can vary as it, in fact, depends on exhibition conditions. The meaning is individualized; the identity and the focus of the experiences overlap. The subject is part of the process which, at first glance, seems simple; he is simultaneously active and passive – the creator as well as a part of this imaginary landscape. Julije Knifer and his series of drawings served as one of the inspirations for this cycle; the repetitive character and the reach of the meander (the sign “recognized” bySandro Đukić in the artist's self-portraits) are built into the foundations of the adventure and into the examination of the media, the road on which the artist has long been treading on.
(An excerpt from the text: At Second Glance. The Positions of Contemporary Croatian Photography, Sandra Križić Roban, 2010)
The multimedia artist Sandro Đukić was born in Zagreb, in 1964, where he graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts in 1989 (in the class of professor Đuro Seder). As a visiting and regular student from 1989 – 1993, he attended the Fine Arts Academy in Düsseldorf, studying under professor Nam June Paika and Nan Hoover. He attended a Master’s course from 1993 – 1994, at the same institution (Prof. Nan Hoover). He exhibited his works at numerous solo and group exhibitions in Croatia, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Iceland, Slovenia, Serbia, Czech Republic, United States and etc. Since 1990s, he has won numerous scholarships and residences: Reisestipendium – New York, USA, Kunstakademie Dusseldorf and the Goethe Institute scholarship; DAAD scholarship for a residential programme at the Islandic College of Art, Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1992; International interdisciplinary symposium Transparent Messenger, Hermit Foundation, Plasy, Czech Republic, in 1994; Vizura Aperta, Festival of audio and visual media, Momian, Croatia, in 2000; Green Island – BUK, Baranja Art Colony, Batina, in 2010, and most recently, in 2011, the residence at the Montalvo Art Center in Saratoga, California, USA, as a participant on the project Kaleidoscope of Pacific Standard Time (KPST), supported by The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles and CEC ArtsLink.
He participated as a lecturer at several domestic and international symposiums. His works are feature in public and private collections. He won the Croatian Association of Artists Award in 1991 (at the 16th Biennale of Young Art, Modern Gallery, Rijeka, Croatia), a special prize of the City of Pula (We Are Here 3, Museum of Contemporary Art Istria, Pula, Croatia) in 2010, and ArtsLink Independent Projects Award in 2011. He is a member of the Croatian Association of Independent Artists (HZSU), the Croatian Association of Artists HDLU and the Croatian Association of Visual Artists Split (HULUS).
- Ivana Pegan
- Glorija Lizde
- Petra Slobodnjak
- Karlo Čargonja
- Valentino Bilić Prcić
- Darija Jelinčić
- Ivan Gundić
- Nina Đurđević
- Luka Pešun
- Katarina Juričić
- Sanja Bistričić Srića
- Dea Botica
- Lana Stojićević
- Ana Vuko
- Ivan Buvinić
- Denis Butorac
- Ana Bilankov
- Darko Bavoljak
- Bojan Mrđenović
- Petra Mrša
- Hana Miletić
- Borko Vukosav
- Jelena Blagović
- Davor Konjikušić
- Domagoj Blažević
- SofijaSilvia
- Davor Sanvincenti
- Darije Petković
- Ana Opalić
- Hrvoje Slovenc
- Marko Ercegović
- Jasenko Rasol
- Sandro Đukić
- Sandra Vitaljić
- Igor Kuduz
- Silvestar Kolbas
- Mirjana Vodopija
- Ivan Posavec
- Goran Trbuljak
- Josip Klarica
- Petar Dabac
- Žarko Vijatović
- Boris Cvjetanović