sonja marjanovi

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novi gradovi

sonja marjanovi

Zagreb, prosinac 2006.

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Slikarstvo senzualne koloristike geometrijske apstrakcije

Uz ciklus slika Novi gradovi Zagrebaka dizajnerica i slikarica Sonja Marjanovi, nakon nekoliko dosadanjih uspjenih izloaba, daljnjim je neumornim slikanjem u posljednje vrijeme stvorila ciklus koji je nazvala Novi gradovi. Ciklus Novi gradovi - dio kojega sada izlae u prostorima Privredne banke - nastavlja se na njezina preispitivanja vlastitih doivljaja boja i svjetlosti inspiriranih dnevnim i nonim pulsiranjem raznih gradova svijeta koje je posjeivala. U ranijim stvaralakim godinama Sonja Marjanovi slikala je koloristiki sugestivne krajolike. No, to nisu bili realistiki krajolici, prepisani iz promatranoga u prirodi na platno. Slikala je svoje doivljaje prirode. Uspostavila je lirsko - poetian diskurs slikanja krajolika, koji je uostalom, bio krajolikom bez topografije, ili bolje, krajolikom njezinih unutarnjih stanja i shvaanja prirode. Ve su tada ovi krajolici bili na granici figuracije i apstrakcije, slikani iznimno otvorenom i toplom koloristikom skalom. Doimali su se poput nadrealnih vizija. Slikarica je ubrzo apstrahirala plohe, raistila boje, maknula krajolik, te poela slikati geometrijsku apstrakciju. Meutim, smisao i osjeaj za boje, slikanje sa znatnim emotivnim uplivom i unoenje senzualnosti, ostao je prisutan i u posve plonim slikama koje radi i danas. Tek je racionalizirala potez, jer novo joj slikarstvo zahtijeva punu izvoaku koncentraciju i strpljenje, s voljom da stabilizira jednu novu vrst higijene vizije i novu tipologiju slike. Danas Sonja Marjanovi u svojemu slikarstvu postavlja svoj temeljni strukturirajui element: traku, liniju, i/ili prugu. Ova joj je vizualna struktura jako vana. U vodoravnoj, okomitoj ili dijagonalnoj traci Sonja istodobno cijeni strukturalnu strogost i potencijalno joj bogatstvo. Taj cjeloviti jednostavni oblik takoer predstavlja fragment kada se upotrijebi u seriji; ponavljanje toga motiva ujedinjuje oslikanu povrinu, ali u isto vrijeme stvara isprekidanost pravilne kvadratne kompozicijske cjeline. Kada bismo kvalificirali ovo slikarstvo, rekli bismo da elementarnom podjelom formata postaje blisko minimalizmu, ali s obzirom na koloristika ulanavanja pripada osobnome i osebujnom tipu geometrijske apstrakcije. Dakle, u znaajnome pojednostavljenju svojega vokabulara, Sonja koristi geometrijsku strukturu, tvorei simetrina polja sa savreno pravilnim rubovima. Nastoji da svaki element sauva svoju znaajku i samostalnost, ostajui ipak tijesno povezan s ostalima. Ta se tenja konkretizirala preispitivanjem naela plonosti slike. Plonost je apsolutizirana: slikarica prekriva povrinu all over, dapae, oslika i same rubove platna nategnutoga preko blind rame. Apsolutizirana plonost logino, negira i najmanji trag volumena, a time i najmanji trag sugestije prostora. Ujedno, volumen nestaje izbrisan stalnim ponavljanjem naslikanih traka: razliite se strane vide kao jedna velika obojana povrina. Oslikana je povrina ujedno i iskaz perfekcionisticke tenje, kako u tehnikome i zanatskom, tako i u optikom smislu. Ako je savreno pravilna podjela formata na simetrine trake ili geometrijske likove jedan od imperativa Sonjine estetike, drugi joj je imperativ - boja. Kao i u mnogih drugih dobrih slikara, i kod Sonje je boja vie mjesto duhovnosti i meditacije nego prazna formalna sastavnica. Vie od bilo kojega drugog elementa, boja daje ljudsku dimenziju ovome slikarstvu; ona je mjera proivljenosti geometrijskoga motiva, izraz njegovog vitalizma. Boje daju aromu i osjetilno - osjeajnu ugoajnost, koja

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sjajno korespondira s perceptivnom autoriinom otrinom, uvjerljivo prenesenom na promatrae njezinih djela. Drugim rijeima, boje nanesene na geometrijske plohe, i svojim izborom i svojim djelovanjem, imaju mo transkripcije jednoga osjeaja, nekoga svjetla, sjeanja na kakvu dragu osobu, ili osobito, na doivljaje akumulirane u nutrini bia s mnogobrojnih putovanja i boravaka u razliitim podnebljima. U tome su smislu posebno vani doivljaji afrikih podneblja. uta, oker i smea u nekoliko varijanti esto dominiraju u Sonjinim slikama, jer su reminiscencije na boju pustinjskoga pijeska, na boju Afrike. Uz to, boje kojim premazuje svoje trake, ili svoje kvadrate i trokute - koje takoer varira u svojim kompozicijskim strukturama - uvijek su iste u gami, jer nikada ne slika tonskim nijansiranjem. Prevlast toplih boja oznaava toplinu osjeaja. Na taj nain funkcionira i koloristika heraldika: upravo e uta, naranasta, oker i crvena predstavljati boje jakih osjeaja, dok e plava biti ambijentalna asocijacija na afriko, bilo dnevno bilo nono, nebo. Kao da njezine boje nose u sebi nekakvu nostalginu teinu. ak i kada upotrebljava bijelu, crnu ili sivu neboju, Sonja ih senzibilizira u neznatnim varijacijama. Dakle, premda je nasljednica i sljedbenica serijalne estetike, ona sve vie odbacuje isti formalizam i trai naine kako humanizirati geometrijsko apstraktnu umjetnost, udahnjujui joj svojevrsnu uvstvenu kakvou. Za shvaanje ovih slika, vaan je osvrt na ritmiziranje pojedinih povrina. Sonjina likovna djela progovaraju uvijek novim ritmom postavljenih traka, ritmom okomica, vodoravnica i dijagonala, kao da ele svjedoiti o neiscrpnosti umjetnike kreacije unutar zadanoga modela. Ritmike varijacije opstoje u upotrebljenim bojama, u gustoi rasporeda linija i u samoj debljini i duljini linija. Privid programiranoga rada, savrenoga geometrijskog spoja od jednostavnih i monotonih multipliciranih jedinica obojanih traka ili geometrijski podijeljenih ploha u jednostavno optiko polje, navodi nas na pomisao o nenametljivoj dekorativnoj prirodi Sonjina umjetnikog proizvoda. Da bi svojim plastikim istraivanjima pridala snaniji izraz, svodi ih na profinjene kromatske registre. Proces slikanja joj je takav da zatomljuje rukopis do glatke, sjajne fakture, to dodatno naglaava zavreno umjetniko djelo kao samostalnu vizualnu plastiku injenicu. Koristei iskustva avangardnih stilskih formacija koje svoj likovni izriaj i umjetniko djelovanje grade na transformiranju umjetnike zbilje u samosvojne duhovne posljedice, Sonja Marjanovi problematizira odnose optike iluzije u zakletoj shemi dvodimenzionalne, plone konkretnosti. Iz nje je posve eliminiran i najmanji trag predmetne zbilje, ne bi li se uspostavio posve apstraktni prcd. Njezino se slikarstvo moe upisati u veliku postmodernistiku obitelj, upravo zato to predstavlja specifini i osobni stilski idiom neo-geo poetike, te se smjeta u sinkretino polje hrvatske, ali i planetarne suvremene umjetnosti. Istodobno geometrijsko i senzualno, njezino je slikarstvo sinteza i most minimal arta i geometrijsko apstraktne tradicije sa suvremenim slikarskim istraivanjima.

U Zagrebu, prosinac mjesec 2006. Enes Quien

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Geometric Abstraction and Sensual Colorism

New Cities Following her several successful exhibitions, Zagreb designer and painter Sonja Marjanovi continued painting tirelessly and created a cycle of paintings entitled New Cities. A part of this cycle is presently exhibited in the premises of Privredna Banka Zagreb. New Cities continue Sonja Marjanovis explorations of colors and light, inspired by day time and night time pulsating of the cities she visited. Sonja Marjanovis earlier works are best described as coloristically suggestive landscapes. However, those early landscapes were by no means realistic, simply copied from nature. The artist painted her impressions about nature. She established a lyrical-poetic discourse of landscape painting which relied on landscapes without topographies, on landscapes of her spiritual states and her understanding of nature. Still, even those paintings verged on abstraction. Painted in exceptionally warm and open colors, they seemed like surrealist visions. Soon afterwards, Sonja Marjanovi disciplined her planes, cleaned the colors, removed the landscape and began painting geometric abstraction. Still, her talent and her feeling for colors, her emotional involvement and sensuality remain evident even in her most recent, absolutely flat paintings. It could be said that she rationalized her stroke; her new painting style demands utmost creative concentration and patience. It relies on her determination to achieve a new hygiene of vision, a new typology of painting. In her most recent cycle, Sonja Marjanovi lays down the fundamental structural element of her painting: line and/or stripe. This visual structure is most important to her. Sonja treasures her horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines both for their structural severity and for their meaningful potential. This simple integral form can also be used as a fragment in a series: the repetition of this motif both unifies the painted surface and breaks it into a regular, square-ruled composition. By dividing her canvas into elementary squares, Marjanovi draws near to minimalism, but her coloristic concatenations deserve to be recognized as personal and distinctive geometric abstraction. To sum up, after significantly simplifying her creative vocabulary, Sonja Marjanovi opts for geometrical structures of perfectly marked symmetrical fields. She strives to preserve the character and independence of each and every element, while binding them closely with others. This effort realizes itself in her research into the principle of mono-dimensionality of painting. Mono-dimensionality is made absolute: the artist covers the surface from edge to edge. Moreover, she paints on the sections stretched across the side of the frame. Logically, absolute monodimensionality negates the very notion of volume and, consequently, even the faintest suggestion of space. Simultaneously, volume is erased by the constant repetition of painted stripes: the different sides appear as a single, large, painted surface. The painted surface also reflects the perfectionist tendency, both in the technical, professional and optical sense. If we say that the perfect division of the canvas into symmetrical lines or geometrical forms is one of the imperatives of Sonjas aesthetics, then color is the other imperative. Rather more than an empty formal element, color is the place of spirituality and meditation. More than any other element, color brings human dimension to these paintings; it

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is the measure of understanding of the geometrical motif, the expression of its vitality. Colors provide the aroma, the sensations - sensual pleasure that magnificently corresponds with the artists perceptive sharpness and its convincing transfer to her audience. In other words, colors applied onto geometric planes have the power to transcribe feelings, memories of a certain light, or someone close to us. Specifically, they have the power to stir deeply buried memories of travel and of life under different skies. In this sense, Marjanovis experiences of African climate carry a special significance. The colors of Africa: yellow, ocher and various shades of brown, frequently dominate Sonjas paintings. They are the reminiscences on the color of desert send. Moreover, she uses only solid colors to paint her lines, or her squares and triangles. The dominance of warm colors reflects the warmth of feelings. Coloristic heraldry functions in the same way: it is yellow, orange, ocher and red that speak of strong emotion, whereas blue is used to evoke the ambience of African sky. It seems that her colors posses some nostalgic weight. Even when using white, black or grey non-colors, Sonja makes them sensual through slight variations. Indeed, although she is the heir and follower of serial aesthetics, she casts aside pure formalism and looks for ways to humanize geometric abstraction by infusing it with a kind of sensual quality. In order to understand these paintings, it is important to reconsider the rhythm of particular surfaces. Sonjas works always speak to us with new rhythms of lines, vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. They testify to the inexhaustible nature of artistic creativity within the boundaries of a given model. Rhythmical variations rely on the colors, density of the grid, the very thickness and length of lines. The illusion of programmed work, of the perfect geometric union of simple and monotonous multiplied stripes, or of geometrically divided planes in an optical field, lead us to think about the unintrusive decorative nature of Sonjas artistic creation. In order to make her plastic explorations more expressive, she reduces them to sophisticated chromatic registers. Her painting process subdues her handwriting to produce a smooth and polished effect, which additionally emphasizes the completed work of art as an independent visual and plastic fact. Using the experiences of avant-garde style formations which build their visual expression and artistic activity on the transformation of artistic reality into autonomous spiritual effects, Sonja Marjanovi problematizes optical illusions in the fixed planar scheme. In order to inaugurate a completely abstract prcd, she has eliminated even the slightest trace of objective reality. Her painting can be accepted into the big postmodernist family exactly because it represents a specific personal stylistic idiom of neo-geo politics. Thus it has a place in the synchretic field of both Croatian and global contemporary art. At the same time geometric and sensual, Marjanovis painting is a contemporary synthesis and link between minimal art and geometric abstraction.

Zagreb, December 2006. Enes Quien

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gore: susret u naranastoj kutiji, 2006, ulje na platnu 100x120x3cm randevous in the orange box, 2006, oil on canvas 100x120x3cm

lijevo: stepenicama u oran, triptih, 2006, ulje na platnu 95x95x3cm upstairs in orange, triptih, 2006, ulje na platnu 95x95x3cm

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grad na kraju putovanja, 2006, ulje na platnu 100x100x7cm city at the end of journey, 2006, oil on canvas 100x120x7cm

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kua najbogatijeg babilonca, 2006, ulje na platnu 72x72x7cm house of the richest man in babilon, 2006, oil on canvas 72x72x7cm

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plamene zore, 2006, ulje na platnu 100x100x3cm burning dawns, 2006, oil on canvas 100x100x3cm

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poslije kie, 2006, ulje na platnu 100x100x3cm after rain, 2006, oil on canvas 100x100x3cm

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skriveni neboderi, 2006, ulje na platnu 72x72x7cm hidden skyscrapers, 2006, oil on canvas 72x72x7cm

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sedam zvijezda, 2006, ulje na platnu 72x72x7cm seven stars, 2006, oil on canvas 72x72x7cm

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Sonja Marjanovi Roena je 23.srpnja 1970. u Zagrebu. Nakon zavrene kole za primjenjenu umjetnost i dizajn u Zagrebu, 1989. godine upisala je Studij dizajna na Arhitektonskom fakultetu Sveuilita u Zagrebu. 1997. godine upisala je poslijediplomski studij Upravljanja poslovnim marketingom na Ekonomskom fakultetu Sveuilita u Zagrebu te uspjeno magistrirala 1999. godine. Izradom i dizajniranjem skulptura i satova od keramike te slikanjem bavi se ve vie od deset godina.

Was born 23 July 1970 in Zagreb, Croatia. She finished Art Design School iz Zagreb. In 1989 she enrolled in the Study of Design course at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Zagreb and successfully completed it in 1994. In 1999 she finished the Post Diploma Study in Business Marketing at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics. For the past ten years she has been creating and designing sculptures in ceramics and painting oil on canvas.

Sonja Marjanovi, F. Fuisa 6, 10000 Zagreb; www.sonja-mar.com; sonja_marjanovic@yahoo.com

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