On Sphinxes and Unicorns
Yesterday evening (September 25, 2017) in the Krsto Hegedušić Gallery in Petrinja (Croatia), our team member Barbara Vujanović opened an exhibition she has been working on as the curator. The exhibition in question presents works by the contemporary Croatian sculptor Nikola Vrljić and bears the name "Runaways" ("Odbjegli" being the original title in Croatian). Here, Vrljić presented fourteen of his latest works from 2017 to the public.
The somewhat intriguing title of the exhibition touches upon Vrljić's sculptural vision of "runaway" mythological beings: sphinxes and unicorns. Vrljić develops this sculptural cycle in the context of a potential unraveling of the "sphinx's riddle", which is also the title of the exhibition text. In it, Barbara Vujanović, the author and curator of the exhibition, says the following (of course, this is only an excerpt):
"After all the variations of humanoid animals, circus people and other characters, we have finally awaited the famous sphinx in this newest cycle - or rather an entire drove of runaway, wondrous beings. Where do they come from? To where they are running? What drives them on? Besides, what do sphinxes symbolize? Is it necessary to remind the reader of this being's traditional genesis which has made its mark on the imaginariums of various civilizations, primarily those of Greece and Egypt and Hindu mythology? (...) however, it seems to me that the key to recognizing their nature and motivation lies in the sculptors typically ironic worldview which, stated in some artwork titles, suggests defiance and insurgency (...). Myth is therefore contrasted by a sharp sense of humor. The author, as always, subversively turns the paradigm upside down."
If you would like to find out more information regarding the exhibition, you are, of course, welcome to see it in person in the Krsto Hegedušić Gallery in Petrinja. It will remain open until October 30, 2017. And there is always the Facebook event to go with it where you can read a bit more from Barbara's exhibition text.
