Permanent Collection
Bogdan Borčić
installations
15th Exhibition of the Bogdan Borčić Graphic Cabinet
Journey into The Seashell
Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, 8. 2. 2021 - 8. 2. 2022
This year the Bogdan Borčić Graphic Cabinet exhibition presents a selection of 23 graphic prints from the first half of the 1970s. These works belong to Borčić‘s creative period that is well known to the general public, a period in which the artist laid down his paintbrush for an entire decade and focused exclusively on creating graphic prints. During this period he perfected his etching and aquatint techniques and focused predominantly on the shells of mussels and sea snails.
The transition from the previous series also took place on the formal level, as Borčić substituted the two-dimensional artistic language with the three-dimensional one and decided to depict the volume of the shells with mimetic precision. The set-up and division of the graphic print also changed, as the composition was now defined by its complex division into spatial quadrants – independent spaces with various perspectives, full of rich detail. Artistic elements started intertwining with the artist’s handwriting taken from his work diary. The recycled matrices in the details from this period indicate the later construction principle found in the works of Borčić.
Shells of sea molluscs and sea snails were marked by symbolism throughout history. The complex morphology, colour patterns and mysterious beings that inhabited these shells have always aroused human imagination. Seashells are symbols that reach beyond time and periods. Borčić appropriated them and ‘stripped’ them down for the viewers of his works. He elevated them from everyday objects into personal signs, which in the numerous interpretations merge the past with the fleeting moments in the life of an artist.
Curator: Kristina T. Simončič
14th Installation in Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić:
Behind Closed Doors - The Interlacementof Visual Signs
Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, exhibition opening: 20th of June 2020
The XIV. exhibition presents a selection of 19 works of art which were created between the end of the 1960s and the mid-1970s and range from graphic prints, drawings to two pastel paintings. The selected works cannot be placed into an unambiguous series, as they differ greatly in the themes they address as well as in their visual sense, spanning from depictions of recognisable objects to abstract forms. They are linked by similar design, symbolic visual signs and small sketched details and graphisms – all of which are traces of the artists signature.
13th Installation in Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić - Abstract and Lyrical Coastal Compositions
Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, 8. 2. 2019 - 2. 2. 2020
This year the Bogdan Borčić‘s graphic prints exhibition present works that he created in the 1960s, a period in which graphic prints bloomed in Slovenia as well as globally. By the beginning of the 1960s Borčić was well acquainted with graphic prints as an artistic medium, which he found increasingly enticing due to its numerous possibilities. His graphic prints started to reflect the process and the economicalness of expression. This conceptual move was possible only under the influence of a concrete personal experience. The artist knew the Yugoslav coast since his childhood years, and he was especially well acquainted with the island of Vis and the town of Komiža, where his father was born and where he spent his holidays as a child. In the series presented in this exhibition we can notice that he let go of the narrative and focused on the exploitation of abstract forms. Borčić‘s coastal motifs come to life as fragments of life and an enigmatic microcosmos only through the viewers experience, for they demand of the viewer to give them meaning in accordance to his imagination. Instead of the conventional vedutas and views of locations and people at the sea, as created by the old masters, or for instance Borčić‘s professor Božidar Jakac – who at the time still emphasised the realistic motif in graphic prints – the detail is placed into the forefront.
12th Installation in Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić
Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, 8. 2. 2018 - 8. 2. 2019
11th Installation - Drawing as Bogdan Borčić’s Means of Expression
Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, 08. 02. 2017 - 08. 02. 2018
The current installation of the artworks on paper, where a selection of Bogdan Borčić‘s rich opus of graphics is exhibited chronologically, presents drawing as means of expression of the artist. The reason for the installation is the donation of drawings to the Gallery by author’s widow Ida Borčić. The donated artworks are also described in the accompanying publication. The exhibited works were selected in collaboration with Lana Razpotnik, an art historian and artist’s granddaughter, who also authored the text in the catalogue.
10th exhibition of prints - IN PRINCIPIO ERAT DACHAU
Bogdan Borčić Graphic Art Room, 26. 09. 2014 - 8.1.2017
Following a break from graphic works that lasted several years, this year, Bogdan Borčić received a commission from the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. He created the Dachau graphic folder, a series of eight graphics in seven prints. This is Bogdan Borčić’s final showdown, and it therefore comes as no surprise that in it, he returned to the concentration camp. Only this time, it was not a fenced-off view through, but rather a direct confrontation. Although there are no people in Borčić’s depictions, which only contain the artist’s characteristic series of objects and atmospheres, the works present an eye-to-eye view, a look into the eyes of the civilization man has built.
Works had been introduced by curator Goran Milovanović. Opening speech had been delivered by Mrs. Špela Spanžel, Director-General of the Cultural Heritage Directorate at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
8th exhibition of prints - Studio - 2012
Bogdan Borčić - Graphic Art Room,
1. December 2012
7th exhibition of prints - 2011
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, December 3rd, 2011
The 7th exhibition marked ten years of the first big donation of 806 prints which Bogdan Borčić donated to Božidar Jakac Art Museum, adding new works every year, as well as the artist 85th anniversary. The important component of prints reflecting transition form 20th to 21st Century is the space between two graphic plates which at the same time function as a junction. Artist joint the plates of ways: they either face each other or are turned against each other, with which he achieved the effects of the negative which seem very attractive to the viewer’s eye.
6th exhibition of prints - 2008
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, October 3rd, 2008
In his 6th exhibition the artist stayed in the realm of minimalistic art, building visual field by experimenting different techniques and applying them to graphic plates; the changes of the rhythm, black and white contrasts, turns around the axis and mirroring of the plates.
5th exhibition of prints – 2007
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, December 1st, 2007
On the occasion at exhibition opening a discussion with Bogdan Borčić had been organized and moderated by Goran Milovanović, cabinet’s curator. The exhibition presented works made during 1984/85, with some made in the last part of the eighties. Dialogue enabled more detailed introduction to the exhibition, as well as the artist’s work as a whole.
Drawing exhibition of Bogdan Borčić
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, November 30th, 2006
At the occasion of artist’s donation of hundred drawings and sketches to ta Museum, exhibition of selected works was organized. As an accompanying event, a monograph ‘Bogdan Borčić – Sketches and Drawings’ was introduced.
4th exhibition of prints – 2005
Graphic cabinet of Bogdana Borčića, December 2005
The selection of 27 prints from ‘The Omen’ series.
3rd exhibition of prints – 2004
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, September 2004
The selection of 26 prints from the beginning of the 80’ had been presented.
2nd exhibition of prints – 2003
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, March 1st, 2003
Second exhibition presented a series ‘Shell’. For this exhibition, Bogdan Borčić selected 30 art prints.
1st exhibition of prints – 2001
Graphic cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, October 4th, 2001
At the occasion of print donation, a cabinet had been established presenting Borčić‘s early graphic with Komiža motives. Works were selected by Bogdan Borčić; the artist was introduced by Zoran Kržišnik, PhD. Accompanying programme featured Dane Zajc. Opening speech had been delivered by Andreja Rihter, a Culture Minister.
