The 33^rd YOUTH SALON – BUDGET, developed around the concept by Martina Miholić and Mia Orsag, will open on Thursday, November 10, 2016, at 7.00 PM in the Home of Croatian Fine Artists on Trg žrtava fašizma 16. The exhibition will remain open until December 11, 2016.

The Youth Salon has traditionally been organized by the Croatian Association of Fine Artist as a biennial and this year marks its 33^rd installment. The exhibition puts forward a current overview of the younger generation of artists’ production, while introducing new names in art.

The 33^rd Youth Salon aims to examine the financial models of artistic work and the existential question of young artists. The Youth Salon will attempt to provide an answer on the possibilities of survival and the variety of resources used to improve the position of culture and artists as individuals. How much space is there left to affirm the individual artistic identities, as well as the cultural identity of a nation? At the same time, how those the current situation still support the creativity of those artists who refuse to give up their vocation?

Within the completely permissive visual arts practice of today, it seems as though every work of art is justified and that the research of meaning has overcome the research of execution. The critics’ writings of today focus the interpretation towards the artwork and its autonomous characteristics. By reducing the funding of cultural activities, the quality of artistic production has been harmed as well. At the moment, culture is the greatest example of a profession that forces its individuals to work in order to be able to work, instead of working in order to make a profit. Joseph Kosuth replaces the term “work” with the term “proposition”, which in a way serves as a review of art, as well as of the fact that a work of art has been reduced to the very process of work. In the times of digital reproduction (W. J. T. Mitchell), the materiality of an artwork (an object) has been entirely diminished. Art production itself has become more multifold and complex, affecting the education of future artists, as well as their future position on the labor market.

The curators of the 33^rd Youth Salon have attempted to tackle the ways in which artists can fight for their existence and they wish to present a practical overview of the methods and results which allow artists to confirm their presence and activity within the ever more loose culture- and art scene. The problem begins among the younger generations, upon choosing profession and enrolling in art academies, and it is manifested upon losing the institutional protection and entering the real world. The majority of young artists take on job positions inapt to their profession and the levels of education, unrelated to their profession, or even leave their profession entirely in order to secure their basic living needs. In doing so, they are renouncing the time needed for person artistic growth and improvement. Consequently, this leads to questioning the quality of artistic production, as well as of the entire cultural scene.

Artists:

In keeping with the concept Budget and the propositions of the open call, the jury of experts including Branka Benčić, art historian and independent curator; Kristian Kožul, sculptor and multimedia artist; Božica Dea Matasić, sculptor; Ivana Meštrov, art historian and curator; Martina Miholić, M.A. (graphic art) and concept author; Mia Orsag, sculptor and concept author; Goran Škofić, multimedia artist, have selected 30 artists:

Jelena Azinović, Stipe Babić, Dragoslav Dragičević, Iva Habus, Luka Hrgović i Dino Julius, Iva Katalinić, Antonio Kiselić Ledinsky, Jelena Lovrec, Luka Kedžo, Tonka Maleković, Ozren Manojlović, Mia Maraković, Mario Matoković, Melita Matović Fligler, Duje Medić, Pavle Pavlović, Ana Petrović, Marija Plečko i Petra Orbanić, Pulska grupa, Mihael Puntarić, Miran Šabić, Melinda Šefčić, Ana Sladetić, Ivan Tudek, Mario Udženija, Josipa Vranjković, Ana Vuzdarić, Vendi Vernić, Ana Zubak, Marko Zubak,

while the following artists were invited by the curators:

Vanja Babić, Mihael Giba, Bojan Mrđenović, Bojan Mucko, Janko Petrović.

As part of the 33^rd Youth Salon, PM Gallery will host an exhibition entitled Exhibition of awarded authors of the 32^nd Youth Salon: Fran Makek and Mak Melcher. The 32^nd Youth Salon Grand Prix and a two-month residence in Paris went to Mitar Matić, painter, while Fran Makek and Mak Melcher won equal second place awards.

The Youth Salon Award is one of the most respectable prizes for young artists, providing the young authors with encouragement for further artistic production and activity. The involvement of Croatian Postal Bank as the general sponsor of the 33^rd Youth Salon has made possible to grant three monetary awards for outstanding artists, including 10 000 HRK for the HPB Grand Prix Award, 7 000 HRK for the second place and 5 000 HRK for the third place. The awards will be announced at the closing ceremony of the 33^rd Youth Salon. By sponsoring the 33^rd Youth Salon, Croatian Postal Bank has expressed its support of the younger generation’s art scene and contributed to the promotion of Croatian visual art.