Exhibition of the famous Julije Knifer's meanders

An exhibition of works by the great Croatian artist Julije Knifer, whose unconventional approach to painting marked the second half of 20th century art, will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art between September 20th and December 6th.

On September 20th, the first retrospective exhibition of works by the great Croatian artist Julije Knifer (1924 – 2004) will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The artist's unconventional approach to the painting medium made a significant mark on the second half of the 20th century. This will be the biggest exhibition of this painter's work and will feature over 300 exhibits.

A selection of works from the museum's in-house holdings will be joined by works borrowed from numerous private and public collections, including some of the world's leading collections of modern and contemporary art – New York's MoMA, the Georges Pompidou Centre of Paris and Geneva's Mamco among others. Some of these works have never before been shown in Croatia. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, Julije Knifer often worked and exhibited abroad, primarily in Germany. He moved to Paris in the early 1990s and remained living there for the rest of his life.

In the art world Julije Knifer is recognised by the geometric form of the meander, which he started exploring in the early 1960s and remained faithful to until the end of his artistic life. By using the language of strict geometry, he always drew attention to his work and constantly provoked classification into diverse trends in post-war art around the world. As a result, he was invited to participate in major international exhibitions. His constant and true affiliation was with the neo-avant-garde group Gorgona (1959–1966), the members of which found their point of departure for unconventional artistic work in the philosophies of existentialism, absurdism and Zen, thus creating a platform for the new artistic phenomena in art.

Apart from Knifer's paintings, the exhibition will showcase drawings and sketches for paintings and murals, publicly lesser known performances, as well as his original diary entries.

Julije Knifer's exhibition titled “No Compromise” will remain open until December 6th.