56. Sculpture MB - IX [1995.]

Dušan Džamonja (Strumica, Macedonia, 1928 - Zagreb, 2009) is the author of numerous public, as well as chamber sculptures. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1951, and was a collaborator of master workshops of Antun Augustinčić and Frane Kršinić. He created in the atmosphere of informalism, but also under the influence of simplified sculptural forms - from ancient sculptures to Henry Moore. His work has been recognised by significant international museums: it is found in the collections of MOMA in New York and Tate in London. His sculptural expression was marked by numerous experiments. Welding iron elements (nails and chains) and manipulating their masses and surfaces into forms of interesting textures, which he is most famous for in art history, reveal his affinity for matter. This sculpture too has something distinctly material. Concrete, cast in similar elements, i.e. modules (in the shape of a section of a circular wreath), has retained its unpolished texture. The assembly of an abstract, dynamic composition from only one, repeatedly repeated element (or "module") is in the spirit of post-World War II art. Reflection on the possibilities that can be obtained by repeating only one form reveals the artist's interest in achieving a completely abstract piece of art, the content of which is the achieved rhythm itself. Such repetition of a similar element in this sculpture speaks of Džamonja's constant interest in experimenting in the sculptural language and in his striving to deepen the expressive possibilities in three-dimensional form, regardless of the specific content. FG

Dimensions

depth 14 cm, width 25 cm, height 18 cm

Description

beton lijevan s crnim kvarcnim šljunkom, numbered on the side, "2/9"

Research information

The work was exhibited at the retrospective exhibition "DŽAMONJA: RETROSPECTIVE: Proposal for donation to Zagreb" at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb from 19.10. - 16.11.2008, and was reproduced in the exhibition catalog under catalog number 256 titled "SCULPTURE MB - IX". A version of the work was exhibited at the solo exhibition "DZAMONJA: Place Vendôme. Sculpture" in Place Vendome in Paris in 1998, and then reproduced in the exhibition catalog on page 15.

Dating

1995.

PROVENANCE

artist's gift from 1998; Central European private collection

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