In times of ethical crisis it is unthinkable to engage in anything else but ethics. In this endeavor, I move from art towards life. I abandon forms (illusions) and emphasize the contents instead; I live the answers to the questions I pose as an artist.
This emphasis has a form, too, but it becomes less and less visible; its effect disappear, there are no embellishments; only the message stands out, like a naked medium. I see work in public space as an imperative for influencing the environment, for taking responsibility.
I use social networks as public platforms for meeting and taking action, as the reflections of reality, as an open front line. In the sea of created contents (in the hyper-democratization of media) art is the act of recognizing the message with a complexity and value.
What an artist tells us, and whether we trust him, is of crucial importance.
By elevating art to the position of ethics we change the way we see the past, imposing the necesity to redefine art history and culture. An artist, focused on breaking the wall of history, defines the criteria for reading art history. An artist creates the highlight of art criticism. In an inner conflict of form, media and content, art becomes unrecognizable (to the audience), it blends with life; it becomes unattractive, maybe even repulsive in its escape from illusion. On the road to life, art disappears, and life moves to a higher level of awareness.
Tomislav Brajnovic
Born 1965 in Zagreb.
- 1993 completed the first year of studies at the KABK Den Haag
- 1999 graduated on the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb
- 2003 finished the MA Fine Art Course, St Martins College, London
- 2020 associate professor, Intermedia Department / Art Academy, Rijeka, Croatia
Solo exhibitions
- 1990 Piazza, Rovinj
- 1993 City Museum Rovinj
- 1995 Aura, Zagreb
- 1998 Vincent od Kastva, Pula
- 1999 Nova, Zagreb
- Revolution is not foreseen by Law, Gallery Gradska, Zagreb
- Vladimir Nazor, Zagreb
- Klovic, Rijeka
- Downtown, Labin
- 2000 City Museum, Rovinj
- 2001 “Holly Structures”, SC Gallery, Zagreb
- Alfa & Omega (Marcelo, Tomislav & Petar Brajnovic), O.K. Gallery, Rijeka
- 2004 Greenhouse, Gallery Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb
- City Museum, Rovinj
- Juraj Sporer, Opatija
- 2005 Mali salon, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rijeka
- Gallery Rigo, Novigrad
- 2007 City Museum, Rovinj
- City Museum, Labin
- 2009 Adum Gallery, Zlarin
- 2010 Gallery SIZ, Rijeka
- CK Charlama, Seknderija, Sarajevo (together with Robert Sosic)
- City Gallery of Slavonski Brod, (together with Tanja
Dabo & Alen Floricic) - Kjosk, Bassano del Grappa, Italy, (21th of May, 2010)
- Ekspedition_ego, Gallery Alkatraz, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 2011 Law of Love and Book of Life, Gallery Prozori, Zagreb
- Flags (together with Robert Sosic), Museum of Contemporary Art,
Skopje, Macedonia - 2012 Gallery PM, Zagreb
- 2013 ZSenne Gallery, Brussels (together with Remi Tamburini)
- Popup, Osijek
- Art Directe, Gallery AŽ, Zagreb
- 2014 Art Directe, Gallery Wuensch Aircube, Linz
- Gallery 777, Dubrovnik
- Orlando, Gallery Događanja, Zagreb
- 2015 Suddenly Everything Disappears, Trieste Contemporanea, Trieste, Italy (together with Igor Eškinja)
- 2016 Pas, Miza Gallery, Tirana, Albania
- Suddenly Everything Disappears, Institute for Contemporary Art, Zagreb
- Crawling Armageddon, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka
- 2017 Crawling Armageddon (Dictatorship of Love), Museum of Contemporary Art, Pula
- 2018 Direct Link, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
- Direct Link, Museum of Fine Arts, Split
- 2019 Information – Time – Truth, AK Gallery, Koprivnica
- On The Edge of History, Gallery Rub (Edge), Slavonski Brod
Group exhibitions (selection)
- 1993 KABK Den Haag, Nederland
- 1994 18th Graphic exhibition
- 1995 Sesam, Motovun
- 1998 Spring Festival, Budapest, Hungary
- 25th Salon of Young Artists, Zagreb
- 1992 Drawing Triennial, Zagreb
- Taking Liberty, Mobius, Istria,
- 2000 Taking Liberty, Mobius, Boston, USA
- 2nd Graphic Triennial, Zagreb
- MIB Art Trieste, Italy
- 2001 Ready Made, Porec
- Goli otok, installations and performances, Adriatic see
- The Reduction of Form, Pula
- 36th Zagreb Salon
- 2002 Homemaker, Gliptoteka, Zagreb
- Goli otok, Kraljevic, Zagreb
- Six Artists from Rovinj, Gallery Forum, Zagreb
- From A to B, Varazdin
- Local & Global, Koprivnica
- Cinemania©, Luka, Pula
- Zeravica, Bjelovar
- Multimeridian, Pula
- The world will never be the same again, Contemporary
Croatian photography & video art, Amsterdam, Holland - 2003 Touch & Go, Space 44, London
- Pinch Punch, Cobden Club, London
- Xhibit, London Institute, London
- Cinemania(c), Pula, Croatia
- Artist Colony of Rovinj, Town Museum
- MA Degree Show, St Martins, London
- Splitski salon, Split
- Dialoghi incrociati, Cascina Roma, Milano, Italy
- 2004 Sobe, Ljubljana, Slovenija, Pula, Zagreb
- Device Art, Zagreb
- 2005 Peti evangelij (The Fifth Gospel), Celje, Slovenia
- Put u nepoznato, Pula, Croatia
- Hicetnunc, San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy
- Insert, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
- Sense in place, Bay Art Gallery, Cardiff, Wales
- 2006 Sobe/Camere/Rooms, Galery Karas, Zagreb
- IX Triennial of Croatian Sculpture, Zagreb
- Media Scape, Novigrad
- Artist Colony of Rovinj, Town Museum
- Avvistamenti, Bisceglie, Italy
- MUVI 01, projection of croatian video,Zagreb
- 2007 City Mapping, Pula
- Media Scape, Novigrad
- T-HT award, selection of contemporary Croatian artists
- 5+, selection of former students of the Fine Art Academy in Zagreb
- Exhibit, Museum of the Moving Image, New York
- MSUI (Museum of Contemporary Art of Istria), muzej u osnivanju, Pula,
- T-HT nagrada@msu.hr
- 2008 Formalno-angažirano, MMSU (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Rijeka
- Grand opening, Artist in Residence, Manorhamilton, Ireland
- Jadran Polis, Pula
- Un bel posto per dimenticare, Buttrio, Italy
- Multimeridijan, Pula
- 2009 Crime and Punishment, Kortil, Rijeka
- Crisis, Luka, Pula
- Clubture Forum, Zagreb
- Media Scape, Novigrad
- Dogma, Dom HDLU, Zagreb
- X Triennial of Croatian sculpture, Zagreb
- On paper, MMC Luka, Pula
- 2010 X godina Sikuti Machine, Pula
- Volume Collection, Palazzetto Tito, Fondazione Bevilaqua La Masa, Venezia
- Strogo osobno, Galerija Vladimir Buzancic, Zagreb
- Multimeridijan, MMC Luka, Pula
- “Izlozba malog formata”, Galerija Nova, Zagreb
- Erased Walls, Berlin
- New Istrian Video, Remont, Beograd, Serbia
- 2011 Volume Collection, MMSU, Rijeka
- Volume Collection, MMSU, Split
- Dopust, Molekula, Rijeka
- Annale Porec, Porec
- Visura Aperta, Momjan
- Pohvala prosjecnosti, Pula
- Pad, Galerija 73, Beograd, Serbia
- Art in the Name of…, PM Gallery, Zagreb
- 2012 Un bel posto per dimenticare, Buttrio, Italy
- Italianitudine, Buttrio, Italy
- Inner Ear, MMSU, Rijeka
- Pear Shear, Rijeka
- XI Triennial of Croatian Sculpture, Zagreb
- Porec Annale, Porec
- Arteria, Novigrad
- Simplon Express / The Return, Zagreb, Paris
- Tu smo, MSUI, Pula
- Pad, Muzej savremene umetnosti, Novi Sad, Vojvodina
- 2013 T-HT Award, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
- Arteria, Novigrad
- Identity, Zagrebacki Salon, Zagreb
- Apathy, Museum of Contemporary Art of Istria, Pula; Klovicevi Dvori, Zagreb
- Oh, Our Beautiful Homeland, Art Pavilion, Zagreb
- Smuggling Anthologies, MMSU Rijeka
- Split Salon, Split
- 2014 Portizmir, Izmir, Turkey
- 2016 La fine del Nuovo, Villa Savorgnan, Ariis di Rivignano
- Naturalia et artificialia, Superstudio, Milano, Italy
- Borders of Visibility, Slavonian Biennial, Osijek
- 2017 Between There and There: Anatomy of Temporary Migrations, MMSU, Rijeka
2019 Is There Art After The Internet, HDLUI, Pula - 2020 Is There Art After The Internet, Small Gallery, Porec
Public works and performances (selection)
- 2001 Urban Picnic, performance on different urban locations, Zagreb
- 2002 Trg gradana (Citizens Square), Trg Marsala Tita 10, Zagreb
- 2003 An artist who doesn’t pretend to be an Englishman is not an artist, walk through London in a 19th century moring suit
- 2005 Flat Holm Project, Sense in Place, Flat Holm, Cardiff, Wales
- 2009 Franz Joseph Picnic, Island of Zlarin
- Ego Trip, Zlarin, Venezia, Novigrad, New York, Arctic
- 2012 Tout ce que j’ai je porte avec moi, Zagreb-Paris
- Makinja ud likvida, performance, Arterija, Novigrad
- 2013 Stamping (Annuling) books and postcards, Brussels, Belgium
- EU Manestra, Arterija, Novigrad
Residencies and expeditions
- 2001 Shadow Casters-Public Art workshop-Bologna, Italy
- 2005 Sense in Place, Cardiff, Wales
- 2007 BUK, Baranja, Croatia
- 2008 Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Ireland
- 2009 The Arctic Circle Project, Svalbard, Norway
- 2010 Ego Trip, Times Square, Brooklyn, New York
- 2012 Simplon Express/The Return, Paris
- 2013 Printmaking in Public Domain, FMC Kasterlee, Belgium
- 2014 Gallery Wuensch Aircube, Linz, Austria
- 2019 Dance in Between, Izmir, Turkey
Other projects
- from 2007 – Studio Golo Brdo, running a gallery for contemporary Croatian and international art
from 2010 – Supper With The Artist - 2020 – Spiritual Revolution, series of podcasts
Awards
- 1997 Grand Prix, Piran, Slovenija
- 1998 1st Prize, Grisia, Rovinj
- 1st Prize Salon of Young Artists, Zagreb
- 1999 Rector of the University of Zagreb Award
- Award of the Fine Arts Academy Council, Zagreb
- The Museum of Rovinj Prize
- 2000 Grand Prix Award, Ex Tempore, Piran
- 2001 1 st Prize, Grisia, Rovinj
- 2003 1st Prize on the Artists Colony Rovinj exhibition (for the Druid’s Prayer Valse sound piece)
- 2004 1st Prize, Grisia, Rovinj
- 2006 2nd Prize, Artist Colony Rovinj exhibition
- 2011 Visura aperta award, Momjan
- 2017 2nd Prize, Borders of Visibility, 25th Slavonian Biennial, Osijek
- 2019 1st Prize, Is There Art After The Internet, HDLUI, Pula
- 2020 Grand Prix, Is There Art After The Internet, Small Gallery, Porec
Grants
- 1993 Karel-Klinkenberg fonds, Den Haag
- 1998 Soros Grant
- 2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
- Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences Grant
- 2001 Gunk Foundation Grant
- 2002 Frankopan Foundation Scholarship
- Croatian Ministry of Science & Technology Scholarship
- 2009 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
