JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE WORLD

Whale, owned by painter Vatroslav Kuliš

Journey to the End of the World is my first serious one-man exhibition, held in 1995 in the Nova Gallery in Zagreb. I carved the sculptures in the country in Jelenja Vas near Predgrad in Slovenia where my dearest man in the world – my Old Dad (grandfather) - lived. This is where I realized what it means to have time for creative work. Polar animals were carved of linden wood in a little old workshop. It is wonderful to carve the wood, not having to bother with anything else. I led an ascetic life then and I was very diligent. I hope I will once again follow that path!

HORSE, FISH, WOLF, GEESE, BEAR, GRAIN, AND APPLE

This photo was taken 10 years ago in front of Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, where I created the sculptures for Marko Pehljan’s play Ladomir-Fraktura IV površina-površina stika. In this otherwise boring play, my sculptures of paper and painted styrofoam functioned pretty interestingly. They were passing across the stage on a movable line, which turned them into a sort of illusion and animation. The play was also performed the same year at Eurokaz in the Gavella Theater in Zagreb.

SILIVIJA AND VLADO

This wood sculpture is a melodramatic representation of a love relationship between turtle Silvija and butterfly Vlado. Their love will leave an indelible mark on Silvija’s psyche, since butterflies live only for a day, while she will have to live some 100 years longer with her love sufferings. The sculpture was made in maplewood which I tore down together with my late Old Dad.

SINGULINAC

This sculpture is placed in the courtyard of Children’s hospital for upper respiratory tract on Srebrnjak in Zagreb and is in a way a mascot for some kind of medicine for children with asthma. It wasn’t that easy to create a sculpture based on a linear, plane drawing (drawn by Igor Vilagoš), but all in all, the agency Tridvajedan paid me rather adequately for my work. I am surprised that advertisers don’t recognize the value of sculpture in their campaigns and promotional activities. They always play it safe and use billboards, what losers and posers.

MAN-ANIMAL-PLANT

This work was created in 2001 as part of my Elephant Cycle, i.e. a series of paintings featuring elephant. Here I wanted to create a being out of a mixture of various life forms and my aim is to add green leaves to the branches once I happily fall in love. The work was exhibited at the Izidor Kršnjavi Gallery, which I am currently running, in the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb. Here’s the link to school's web page : http://www.skola-primijenjene-umjetnosti.htnet.hr/salon.html

BED

This work, created in 1998, is actually a copy of my own bed in which I used to sleep for many years. It is conceived as a tribute to a vitally important object in our lives. It was made in poplar wood and maplewood and was exhibited in Italy (Museo dell’aredo contemporaneo, Russi-Ravenna), Slovenia (BREAK, Ljubljana), in the Arterija Gallery in Zagreb as well as the Sculpture Trienniale at the Sculpture Museum of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts.

SAINT STEPHEN

This is a sketch (attention should be paid to its composition) for a big painting which I was supposed to do for a chapel in Kočevje (Slovenia), but they decided not to commission the work because the price was too high for them (actually they were stingy). The man in the center (above St. Stephen) is Saint Paul, then called Saul, who prosecuted Christians and who also ordered the execution of a young deacon. Later, he experienced an epiphany. How absurd life can be sometimes, hallelujah!

DON’T

Don’t Make Me Dirty is the heaviest work in the cycle DON’T, weighing 136 kilos!

Don’t Jump Over Me, owned by Azinović, an art collector, graphic artist, and usurer, who took a great deal of my works for some small favors he did for me. Unfortunately, even these small numbers of art collectors in this raped and suffering country are inconsiderate plunderers who ask for way too much in exchange for the little money given or some petty favors they do!

Don’t Kidnap Me

Entrepreneur Predrag Đukić bought the work Don’t Take Me Off for his wife and it is currently in Prague. My friend, artist Sandro Đukić, is Predrag’s brother.

Don’t Interrupt me, owned by Enes Quien, the man who wrote the majority of texts for me, among others the one for the exhibition DON’T catalogue! Quine, a critic and professor of art history at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, is also known as big Latino lover. He is now in hospital, plugged to the machines because he contracted meningitis, God help him!

These are my cast iron artworks that were presented at the exhibition DON’T in the Gradec Galley in 2003 and there are 60 of them! They were cast in the Foundry Bjelovar. I am immensely grateful to their workers for their support. STAND UP YOU EARTHLY SLAVES!

COMIC: JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE WORLD BY GENERAL UMBERTO NOBILE EXPEDITION

The comic Journey to the End of the World by General Umberto Nobile Expedition is an authorial interpretation of a real event that took place in the 20’s of the 20th century. It is a sensational experience of the Italian expedition that tried to conquer the North Pole in a balloon, but they were entrapped by their own fixation. The expedition took its toll and many innocent people lost their lives including the famous polar explorer Amundsen! In 1996, this comic was a part of the project “Journey to the end of the world” held in the Nova Gallery in Zagreb, which incorporated ambient music by Toni Ostojić as well as wood sculptures of polar animals and icebergs. Last year, on the occasion of 40 years of Croatian comic, in the Q magazine, Darko Macan, a great connoisseur and comic author, proclaimed it to be one of the 5 best comics. It’s really flattering, but it also obliges me to continue dealing with this fantastic medium. It should be mentioned that Sandro Đukić helped me in the realization of the comic with his profound knowledge of computers and his superb eye of a designer.

Here is the link:
http://www.pipschipsvideoclips.com/fightclub/kraskovic/index.htm

Denis Krašković – BIOGRAPHY

1972 Born in Zagreb, Croatia on 23 March
1990 Graduated from the School for Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb, Croatia
1995 Graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Visual Arts, sculpture department
1996-2007 Working as a teacher of sculpturing in the School of Applied Arts and design in Zagreb, Croatia
2007-2011 Working as professor of sculpturing on Osijek Art Academy, Croatia
2010 Graduated on Postgraduate studing of sculpturing and video in Ljubljana, Slovenia



One man exhibitions
1994
Miroslav Kraljevic Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
1995
Nova Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
1996
SC Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Rigo Gallery, Novigrad, Croatia
Otok Gallery, Dubrovnik, Croatia
1997
Concordia, Zagreb, Croatia
Arteria, Zagreb, Croatia
1998
Karas Gallery , Zagreb, Croatia
1999
Palazzo Mignoti, Ortona, Italy
2000
Palach Club, Rijeka, Croatia
2001
Izidor Krsnjavi Exhibition Space, Zagreb, Croatia
Galzenica Gallery, Velika Gorica, Croatia
2002
Gradec Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
2003
Club Atack, Zagreb, Croatia
2004
Izidor Krsnjavi Exhibition Space, Zagreb, Croatia
2005
Prica Gallery, Samobor, Croatia
Lazareti, Dubrovnik, Croatia
2006
Dom HDLU, Zagreb, Croatia
2007
Kazamat Gallery, Osijek, Croatia
AŽ Gallery, Žitnjak studios, Zagreb, Croatia
City museum Šibenik, International children festival, Croatia
Palmižana, St. Klement island, Hvar, Croatia
Ružić Gallery, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
2008
City museum Rovinj, Sv. Toma Gallery, Croatia
City museum Labin, Croatia
2009
SC Gallery Zagreb, Croatia
2010
Archaeological museum Osijek, Croatia
2011
City museum Požega, Croatia


Group exhibitions (selection)
1991
Young Croatian Painters, Karas Gallery Salon, Zagreb
1992
Youth Salon, Gliptoteka HAZU, Zagreb
1993
Zagreb Salon, Gradec Plateau, Zagreb, Croatia
XXXIII Annale, Porec, Croatia
1993
Miroslav Kraljevic Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
1994
5th Triennial of Croatian Sculpture, Gliptoteka HAZU, Zagreb, Croatia
1995
30th Zagreb Salon, Zagreb, Croatia
Tracce di Grafica Croata, Torino, Italy
Comics Salon, Vinkovci, Croatia
1996
Triennial of Drawing, Zagreb, Croatia
Otok Gallery, annual exhibition of SCCA, Dubrovnik, Croatia
DDDA, CEKAO Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Youth Salon, Zagreb, Croatia
Modernita-Progetto, Palazzo Bricherasio, Torino
1997
Triennial of Croatian Sculpture, Gliptoteka HAZU, Zagreb, Croatia
Art Workshop Rovinj, City Museum, Croatia
Earth Day, Architects club, Zagreb, Croatia
1998
Festival 98, Mainz, Germany
Show of Ladomir Faktura, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1999
Break 21, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Palazzo Mignoti, Ortona, Italy
Triennial of Drawing, Zagreb, Croatia
2000
A New Beginning, SC, Zagreb, Croatia
Momiano OO festival, Istria, Croatia
Galženica Gallery, Velika Gorica, Croatia
Triennal of Croatian Sculpture, Zagreb, Croatia
2001
Contemporary Croatian Art, The Brewery Project, Los Angeles, USA
Sculpture, Skopye, Macedonia
26th Youth Salon, Zagreb Trade Fair, Croatia
Contemporary Croatian Ceramics, Koprivnica Town Museum, Croatia
2002
Contemporary Croatian Art, Ravenna, Italy
Janos Sugar Studio, Budapest, Hungary
Human-nature, Traffo, Budapest, Hungary
Skopje Film Festival, Multimedia, Skopye, Macedonia
Local/Global, Koprivnica Town Museum, Croatia
Croatian Film Days, Kinoteka, Zagreb, Croatia
Burning Coals 2: Ashes, Bjelovar Town Museum, Croatia
Palazzo dei Consoli, Gubbio, Italy
Man/Nature, Slavonski Brod Town Museum, Croatia
Utopia Travel (Kairo, Beirut, Istanbul, Sofia, Skoplje, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Graz)
Contemporary Croatian Photography, Amsterdam, Nederlands
The Unadapted, Kunstlerhaus Betanien, Berlin, Germany
Schonbrunn, Vienna, Austria
2003
Much to much, Art pavilion, Zagreb, Croatia
Sociability, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
Cite des arts, Paris, France
2004
Bad art, VN Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
2005
The cravat challenge, Pretoria, Johannesburg, South Africa
Back to the future, SC gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Insert, retrospecitive of Croatian video, Museum of modern art, Velesajam, Zagreb, Croatia
2006
New sacral art in Croatia, Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Retrospective of video works KMRF, MM centar, Zagreb, Croatia
Insert, retrospecitive of Croatian video, Mali salon, Rijeka, Croatia
The cravat challenge - Krakov (POL), Gdanjsk (POL), Berlin (D), Sofia (BUL), Moskow (RUS), Vienna (AUT)
Art workshop Rovinj, City museum Rovinj, Croatia
Croatian films days, SC cinema, Zagreb, Croatia
Shifting ground, West Coast, Republic of Irland
Etno-natura, SC Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Faux mouvment, Centre d'Art Cotemporain, Metz, France
Vienna biennale, Plattform-raum fur kunst, Vienna, Austria
2007
10 years of MMC-a & 40 years of Palach club, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia
Videorats, Video festival, Celje, Slovenija
Universality of museum subject, Post museum, Zagreb, Croatia
Young artists video, Izidor Kršnjavi Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Op.Art -quisisana festival of urban culture, Opatija, Croatia
Return of lost generation, Izidor Kršnjavi Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Art and crime, Muzej moderne i suvremene umjetnosti, Rijeka, Croatia
Rehab, Balen Gallery, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
2008
Labor Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Rotonda a mare di Senigallia, Italy
Ooooze festival, Lazareti, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Art workshop Rovinj, Gradski muzej Rovin, Croatia j
Truth and fake (Red Peristil), Diocletian basements, Split, Croatia
Boys & their toys, SC Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Sculpture workshop Zemlja, Vinkovci, Croatia
George's cathedral, St. Krševan Gallery, Šibenik, Croatia
Vinorelli, atelier Lučko, Zagreb, Croatia
Slavonian bienalle, Fine art Gallery, Osijek, Croatia
2009
Zagrebi festival, klub Močvara, Zagreb, Croatia
Return to inheritance, St. Dominic church, Gradska loža, Zadar, Croatia
Triennale of Zagorje, City museum, Krapina, Croatia
Surduk festival, Suza, Baranja, Croatia
Udarac, posters exhibition, Tončićeva street, Split, Croatia
Art Workshop Rovinj, City Museum, Croatia
X triennale of Croatian sculptures, Gliptoteka Hazu, Zagreb, Croatia
2010
DDDDA, Oroslavlje castle, Croatia
1+1, Kazamat Gallery, Osijek, Croatia
The Residents, Caesar Gallery, Czech Republic
Tenda Gialla, culture camp, Pogon Jedinstvo, Zagreb, Croatia
Slavonian bienalle, Fine art Gallery, Osijek, Croatia
2011
T-ht award, Museum of contemporary art, Zagreb, Croatia
Popart is not dead, Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Sculpture, Kazamat Gallery, Osijek, Croatia







Public sculptures
1995 Doors, park of Jakovlje Castle, Croatia
1997 Sculpture for the dead soldiers from Trnje, Zagreb, Croatia
1998 Dog rose, Hvar Island, Croatia
2000 Way of the Cross, Stari Trg, Slovenia
2001 Whale, Lake Jarun, Zagreb, Croatia
2002 Singulinac, Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Seal, Arena Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Lamb, Arena Zagreb, Croatia




Awards
1993 Second Prize at the Skulptura competition in Lipik, Croatia
1997 Young Artist Prize, Art workshop Rovinj, Croatia
2001 Grand prix of the Youth Salon in Zagreb, Croatia
2010 The Residents, second prize for video, Caesar Gallery, Czech Republic