Julije Knifer

Museum Haus Konstruktiv is honoring the oeuvre of Croatian artist Julije Knifer (b. 1924 in Osijek, d. 2004 in Paris) with a comprehensive solo exhibition, realized in close cooperation with his daughter, Ana Knifer. Alongside numerous paintings and works on paper, this show also presents photographic documentation, rarely screened film footage and a selection of text-based works. Knifer, one of the most significant Croatian artists of his time, was a co-founder of the Gorgona Group in Zagreb, which was active from 1959 to 1966, distanced itself from the traditional aesthetic practices of socialist Yugoslavia, advocated absolute autonomy for art, and sought an exchange with international avant-garde movements. In the milieu of this group, where the intention was to ensure stylistic freedom for its members, Knifer developed his striking oeuvre, basing it, from 1960 onward, on the use of just a single motif: the meander. With this, he created sculptures, reliefs, collages, large-format indoor and outdoor murals, artist’s books, and diaries. The result is a virtually monolithic oeuvre, characterized by the artist’s radically existentialist mindset.

26.10.2017–14.1.2018
curated by Sabine Schaschl and Ana Knifer