Group of Six Artists: Exhibition Actions

Exhibition action, Željko Jerman: Intiman zapis, 1978 [image by Fedor Vučemilović, InC EDU]
Exhibition action, Željko Jerman: Intiman zapis, 1978 [image by Fedor Vučemilović, InC EDU]
POI Number
05
Typology
Square
Country
Croatia
Municipality
City of Zagreb
District
City Center
Address
Trg Bana Jelačića

In 1975 in Zagreb, without a defined aesthetic program, the Group of six authors was formed, consisting of Boris Demur, Željko Jerman, Vlado Martek, Mladen Stilinović, Sven Stilinović and Fedor Vučemilović. They gather because of common affinities, through the institution of friendship, and it is interesting that most of the members of the group were not academically educated. Their socializing follows the avant-garde ideal of equating the experience of art with everyday life. The group acted extra-institutionally and thus affirmed its own freedom, but also direct contact with passers-by, who were involved in the reception, but also completion of the work with the their own participation/ spontaneous ad hoc reaction. They qualified their activities as Exhibitions-actions, simultaneously being a mode of display, but also a work of art. What is important for their strategy is that the process of creating the work takes place in harmony with the street context. The exhibitions-actions were created from 1975 to 1979, and a total of 21 actions were held in which all members of the group participated.

One exhibition-action took place at the main square of Zagreb-Trg Republike back then-in 1975 featuring four poetic objects, among which were poster poems written on a mirror and a poetic text written on a large piece of paper and laid on the pavement. One of the group members, Boris Demur exhibited photographs and the inscription "eto"/there you go, which he wrote on a large piece of paper and pasted around as an advertisement, another member of the group, Željko Jerman drew the position of the shadow of the clock pillar on the Square with photographs and thus made a sundial, Fedor Vučemilović wrote by hand on a photography, Sven Stilinović showed photographies that he retouched, and Mladen Stilinović copied a smiling mouth from a magazine and distributed it to the passers-by.

Educational Resources

https://monoskop.org/Group_of_Six_Artists