CREATIVE WORKSHOPS ACCOMPANYING THE EXHIBITION ‘VUCO: State of Things’

The exhibition of the artist Mire Vuco (born 1941, Vojnić Sinjski), who has been active in the Croatian art scene for over sixty years, presents an overview of his entire body of work. Vuco was a full professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb until his retirement. One of the significant segments of his work is related to his membership in the Biafra group (1970–1978), where he stood out with works on socially engaged themes. Unlike permanent materials such as bronze, Vuco preferred non-standard, often transient materials like polyester during this period. In his later works, particularly in a series of reliefs from the 1980s, there is a shift towards a more tactile expression, which gradually developed into his painting. His paintings are characterised by informal structures, layered applications of paint, and often an abstract approach. Some works include figurative and zoomorphic motifs (horses, birds), further emphasising the dynamic between the flat surface and three-dimensional expression.

1. SCULPTURE WORKSHOP

24th May 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Vuco was born in a place where the songs of birds and the galloping of horses could be heard, where wild boars roared in the forests and deer bellowed, and sometimes, the howling of wolves could be heard. All of this inspired our artist, and through his works, it will inspire us as well.

TASK: Relief depiction of a horse and birds in clay.

LEARN MORE: Sculpture can be divided into full sculpture and relief based on the degree of plasticity. This is also the fundamental characteristic of volume, which we define as the size or capacity of an object in space. Full sculpture is shaped as a body in space, which we can observe from all sides, and it is divided into a statue or sculpture and a mobile.

Relief, on the other hand, refers to protrusions or indentations on a flat surface. Here, the volume is shaped on a surface, or substrate. Relief can be classified into three groups based on the height of the protrusions that extend from the surface into space: high relief, low relief, and sunken relief.

2nd and 3rd SCULPTURE WORKSHOP

7th and 14th June 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

TASK: In the exhibition of full sculpture, we only see three types of animals: the wild boar, a pack of wolves, and a search dog. While we cannot work with polyester, we can create sculptures of these animals by papier-mâché. For this, we will use newspaper and glue, a technique known as papier-mâché. In the next workshop, once the works have dried, we will paint them.

We also organize workshops for kindergarteners and schoolers every working day except Monday! Previous registration is required at: artionica@gkd.hr

Workshops for adults are still held every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Text: Liljana Velkovski
Museum advisor, museum educator, Artionica workshop manager