Bogdan Borčić: Graphic Art

7th Exhibition in the Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić 

When Bogdan Borčić cuts plates and puts together montages of elements along construction lines, he is drawing attention to one more specific feature of graphic art, that is, the possibility of recycling plates or parts thereof, which can be used to construct a variety of graphic works. He combines old plates or parts of them with new ones, turns them over and prints their (hidden) reverse side. This practice of cutting and piecing together deconstructions and constructions offers the artist almost limitless possibilities in open combination systems. And in this way the artist relativises the integrity and solidity of the image, which is never entirely new or permanently definitive. Borčić recalls it thus: “I made the first print of the reverse side of some plate back in 1987, when I used a matrix from 1982. When I took a look at that print, it seemed surprisingly interesting to me. I made another print, after creating a slightly different impression with aquatint. This was alien to my work at the time, but I saw just what was offered by these old plates, and especially their reverse side. It was only in 1997 that I started systematically selecting old plates. I was particularly interested in those reverse sides, which were damaged during the etching process on the front, either because the protective asphalt lacquer got scratched or harmed in some other way, or because in progressive etching I did not always cover it to prevent uncontrolled etching. So those spots became spontaneously etched and created fascinating textures, artistically speaking. I made trial prints and when I analysed the results I perceived a special lure and challenge. In that period of work I was no longer interested in the strict order of the minimalist and geometric concept, which I constructed between 1982 and 1996. This was followed by cutting plates, and I used those parts that especially interested me. This led to the creation of a cycle of horizontal graphics, which I titled Krilne grafike/Wing Graphics; when I put them together more, they were Tračne grafike/Ribbon Graphics; when I made them out of new plates, Paličaste grafike/Stick Graphics and when I printed them in a perpendicular position they were Vertikalne grafike/Vertical Graphics.”

Curator: Goran Milovanović