REOPENING OF THE KARAS GALLERY IN A NEW LOCATION
Kralja Zvonimira 58
15.3.2018. at 7pm

 

VIDEO INVITATION (by Luka Hrgović)

 

Opening Ceremony: Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 7pm

 

The Croatian Association of Artists (HDLU), the largest and oldest art association which gathers over 1,800 visual and multimedia artists from all over Croatia, was established in 1868 at the session of the Art Society at the National Hall in Opatička St. No. 18. This year the Association marks the 150th anniversary of its foundation and the 80th anniversary of the construction of the Home of Croatian Association of Artists, which was based on the design of the great Ivan Meštrović.

The Croatian Association of Visual Artists (ULUH), the historical successor to the Art Society, which created an exhibition space called the ULUH Salon on the ground floor of Starčević House, was established after the end of WW2. The Salon opened in 1948 with the Exhibition of Prints. From 1951 onwards, the ULUH Salon continued its work at Praška St. No. 4.

ULUH (Croatian Association of Visual Artists) changed its name to HDLU (Croatian Association of Artists) in 1972. In the early 1970s the Association decided to open a new gallery and the preparations resulted in the opening of Karas Gallery on the first floor of Starčević House in 1975 with the exhibition The Beginnings of the Croatian Association of Artists within the 10^th Zagreb Salon. At the time, Starčević House also housed a smaller exhibition space, Karas Gallery Studio, which hosted solo exhibitions, and the exhibition space in Praška St. No. 4 bore the name of Karas Gallery Salon.

The Gallery was named after Vjekoslav Karas, the first academic painter from continental Croatia of the 19^th century, whose work is seen as pioneering in terms of the national modern art.

When HDLU returned to Meštrović Pavilion in 1993, the exhibition programme was held at the Prsten and Bačva galleries and at the Extended Media Gallery, whereas Karas Gallery Salon in Praška St. No. 4 continued its activity under the name of Karas Gallery.

In 2015 the Croatian Association of Artists was forced to relocate Karas Gallery from Praška St. No. 4 due to the sale of the building, and for the following two years the programme was held at the Prsten Gallery of the Home of HDLU.

The Croatian Association of Artists recognises the historical value of Karas Gallery which has become and remained a platform for presenting an overview of contemporary art production. While smaller solo exhibitions were held at the Studio and Salon, Karas Gallery hosted problem-oriented, thematic exhibitions and concepts developed in cooperation with art critics. Wanting to establish a continuous operation of galleries that were active under this name, this year the Croatian Association of Artists decided to use its own revenue to restore and equip the space in Zvonimirova St. No. 58 as the new Karas Gallery, which will, on 15 March at 19.00, open its doors to visitors and young artists who will be presented here.

Visitors will have an opportunity to learn about the history of Karas Gallery (lecture by Ivana Mance, PhD, and Petra Šlosel), witness the unveiling of the sculpture Genius of Education (a smaller replica of sculpture from the top of Starčević house, by unknown Austrian author from the end of the 19th century). that was previously positioned above the entry gate of the exhibition space in Praška St. No. 4, and enjoy a half-hour audio-visual performance by a multimedia artist of a younger generation, Tin Dožić.

 

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS:

20 – 31 March 2018 MIHAEL PUNTARIĆ: SLIKE U PROSTORU [PAINTINGS IN SPACE]

4 – 15 April 2018 MARTINA GRLIĆ: MEMORIJA I KONFLIKT [MEMORY AND CONFLICT]

17 – 29 April 2018 NATALIA BORČIĆ: ČUVARI PUTOVANJA [TRAVEL GUARDIANS]

 

2018 Karas Gallery programme has been implemented with the financial support of the City of Zagreb and Croatian Association of Artists.

 

 

Karas gallery working hours:
Wednesday and Friday: 9am to 3pm
Thursday: 3pm to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday 9 to 12pm.
Mondays, Tuesdays and holidays closed.