Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Goran Trbuljak: 45 Years of Non-Painting

Feb 12 – Apr 2, 2022
Via Azzo Gardino, 9, 40122 Bologna BO

In the late 1960s, artists working in Yugoslavia grew tired of conventional methods of making art. Dubbed the New Art Practice, adherents abandoned their studios for the streets, turning the city into their canvas. They performed on those streets, too, and published pamphlets and books that anyone, not just collectors, could buy. Among the group was Goran Trbuljak, a Zagreb-based cinematographer, painter, and sculptor. Trbuljak resisted showing his work in galleries and museums—he questioned if an artist truly has autonomy in institutions—and instead staged spontaneous art exhibitions on sidewalks or in the hallways of cultural centers. At 73 years old, Trbuljak is now showing in a gallery. The retrospective includes work from the beginning of his career—art that questions the very walls on which it will be displayed. —Jensen Davis

Goran Trbuljak, “Sketch for Sculpture,” 1993. Photo courtesy of P420.