MG+MSUM
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EXAT 51 (B. Bernardi, Z. Bregovac, V. Kristl, I. Picelj, Z. Radić, B. Rašica, V. Richter, A. Srnec, V. Zarahović)
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AMBIENT V / AMBIENT V

EXAT 51 

Bernardo Bernardi, Zdravko Bregovac, Vlado Kristl, Ivan Picelj, Zvonimir Radić, Božidar Rašica, Vjenceslav Richter, Aleksandar Srnec, Vladimir Zarahović

Manifest z razstave Kristl-Picelj-Rašica-Srnec / Manifesto of Kristl-Picelj-Rašica-Srnec exhibition,1953

 

Bernardo Bernardi

1921, Island of Korčula, Yugoslavia, now Croatia – 1985, Bol, Croatia

Exhibition space of the Sklad co-operative, Zagreb Trade Fair

School furniture for a school in Kumrovec, 1953

Prototype of a chair for mass production, 1955

 

 

Zdravko Bregovac

1924, Dinjevac, Yugoslavia, now Croatia – 1998, Opatija, Croatia

Forma, the Association of Artists of Applied Arts shop, Zagreb

 

 

Aleksandar Srnec

1924–2010, Zagreb, Yugoslavia, now Croatia

Drawing, 1952

A glass case, detail from the 2nd class waiting room at the Zagreb railroad station

Drawing “Lines”, 1956

Courtesy: Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, Zagreb

 

 

Vjenceslav Richter

1917, Donja Drenova, Yugoslavia, now Croatia – 2002, Zagreb, Croatia

An Object as a Space Subject. Reflections on Exhibitions

Competition project for the Yugoslav pavillion at Expo 56 in Bruxelles, 1956

 

 

Božidar Rašica

1912, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, now Slovenia, – 1992, Zagreb, Croatia

Composition, 1954

Composition, 1956

Courtesy: Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, Zagreb

 

 

Vlado Kristl

1923, Zagreb, Yugoslavia, now Croatia – 2004, Munich, Germany

The Magic Skin, 1960

animated film, 10' 38''

Courtesy: Zagreb film

Don Quixote, 1961

animated film, 20' 11''

Courtesy: Zagreb film

 

 

ABOUT EXAT 51

The EXAT 51 group was founded in 1951; its name derives from Experimental Atelier.

 

The critics censured the EXAT 51 group for neglecting the local tradition and for ostensibly plagiarizing Western art, since the communist society, at least initially, considered abstract forms to be bourgeois and decadent. To counter that, the EXAT 51 group stated in its Manifesto that abstract art could enrich visual communications in the new socialist society, which emphasized freedom from tradition as a value.

The EXAT 51 group was familiar with Western European (the Bauhaus and De Stijl) and Russian constructivism. Their utopian projects, their ideas, even though never realized in practice, are extremely important, as they contributed greatly to the liberating of the artistic spirit in Yugoslavia in the 1950s, and encouraged artists to explore and experiment with all means of expression (painting and sculpture, as well as architecture and design).