•

Julije Knifer, AUTUMN XII/1 and AUTUMN XII, 1993, Acrylic on canvas, 300 x 200 cm / 118 1/8 x 78 3/4 in - Installation view, The meander is a form of my freedom, galerie frank elbaz, Paris, 2015 - Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

The Museumhaus Konstruktiv is pleased to be able to realize a comprehensive exhibition of works by the Croatian artist Julije Knifer (1924-2004). In addition to paintings and works on paper, the show, developed in close collaboration with the artist's daughter, presents a selection of Knifers' diaries.

Julije Knifer is considered one of the most important Croatian representatives of non-figurative art. He was a member of the neo-avant-garde artist group Gorgona in Zagreb from 1959 to 1966, who deviated from the traditional aesthetic practices in socialist Yugoslavia and sought the exchange with the international avant-garde. The members combined an affinity with the spirit of modernity with their sense of the absurd, the emptiness and the monotony. From about 1960 onwards, Julije Knifer dealt extensively with the form of the meander, a well-known element of vertical and horizontal lines, which he knew could be endlessly varied in paintings and paperwork. From 1971, Knifer handed over the Meander motif in large format to wall paintings in the public interior and exterior. Characteristic of his work is the repetition as an expression of duration and continuity. His work, from drawings to painting to his diaries, is characterized by an existentialist spirit that makes the boundaries between life and work disappear.