KRZYSZTOF BARTNIK
PETRA JOVANOVSKA
SLAĐANA MATIĆ TRSTENJAK
Curators: Iva Körbler, Vesna Šantak
The legacy of abstraction exists today in many variants, variables, and permutations—especially that "Bauhausian" line of geometric and lyrical abstraction, where the emphasis lies not only on geometric forms but also on combinations of tonal shades and color values. The fundamental research on primary colors and geometric shapes from the Bauhaus—such as the blue circle, red square, and yellow triangle—later dispersed into numerous variations of two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms, as well as elaborations of the twelve-tone color wheel (Josef Matthias Hauer, 1919) and the color wheel with as many as 120 shades (Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, 1922/1923). It seems that the endless possibilities of experimenting with geometric forms and colors continue to attract and fascinate artists from across Europe, not just within Croatia. For most artists, these processes do not merely express a tendency toward minimalism and reducing the world to a chromatic imprint, but a deeper intent to establish mental and emotional hygiene—and even to symbolize one’s own spiritual path, if we may put it that way.
Graphic artist Petra Jovanovska (Czech Republic / North Macedonia) creates works on paper using a mixed technique combining drypoint printing and acrylics, installed as larger compositions or polyptychs. Her research starts with the shape of the circle, into which various relief patterns or textures are applied—impressed using the drypoint technique. By animating and "setting into motion" the surface of color in this way, interesting transitions and light fractures are achieved on the surface of the works; moreover, considering that the patterns include "old-fashioned" knits and various symbols, the artist appears to negate the pure idea of a minimalist approach to the abstract code by introducing into the circle an element of everyday life’s chaos and unpredictability—but in a positive way, as a personal ode to life and universal creation. This is also evident in the titles of the works, which suggest a continuous and complex game of life. The same applies to the color range, which generally appears in saturated, tertiary, and earthy tones, again reflecting the complexity of our world.
Polish artist Krzysztof Bartnik reduces his watercolor technique works to the exploration of the relationship between two squares, in the Genesis series, which suggests ancient geometric and even esoteric origins of the square’s symbolism. The square symbolizes the four elements without which life cannot exist—air, earth, fire, and water—while the circle can spiritually liberate and elevate us, but also imprison us in its symbolism of endless rotation within a "closed circle." Bartnik, however, does not choose the circle, but instead rotates one square, thereby forming the geometric shape of a rhombus. Through this symbolic rebus, he points to how we are trapped in material existence—both literally and metaphorically—as if in a cage. The rhombus is like a seal upon the door of the soul and the mind. According to his own interpretation, he paints abstract landscapes in which he pays much attention to the layering of translucent watercolor washes, suggesting the gradation of spiritual growth. That’s why he so delicately emphasizes the lighter and darker transitions of a single color, in order to achieve the effect of hovering and the three-dimensionality of the front square, which undoubtedly carries symbolic connotations.
Slađana Matić Trstenjak (Slovenia) has long worked in collage and assemblage techniques, creating mixed media works on canvas that go beyond the boundaries of two-dimensional painting. Although in the beginning the landscape was a literal model, in her painting, that landscape based on memory quickly transformed into what is known as “painting with a key,” and into an allegory of the cycles of destruction and renewal in life and nature. In all her mixed media works (acrylic, chalk, pastel, marker, collage), Slađana conceals existential, emotional, and spiritual trauma within a landscape, hiding archetypal and allegorical motifs such as the theme of the forest. A special feature of these artworks, both in terms of form and content, lies in the specific application of collage and assemblage techniques. Paper strips, irregularly torn and glued onto the canvas, extend beyond the edges, creating a spatial dimension to the painting. It is a combination of colored and drawn paper pieces of various shapes, and in her recent works, they are complemented by textile/velvet patches, which give the assemblages a completely new texture and a different light reflection. These new so-called “velvet fields” evoke French painting of the 1950s and the idea of landscapes from a vertical or bird’s-eye perspective, but also suggest a psychoanalytic layer—representing the need to resolve inner trauma translated into the metaphor of a landscape. For the first time in her 2025 works, the color red will appear as a signal of a new life path and a positive, vitalistic energy. The symbolic exit from the forest and from life’s nightmares seems to have finally been reached and found.
Iva Körbler
