Mind Storm

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Curated by:

Milo Sakač

Milo Sakač in Mimara Museum / Zagreb

Milo Sakač, painter and architect, with an exhibition at the Mimara Museum celebrates 31 years since his first solo exhibition. Zagreb is just one of the stations of a traveling exhibition tour called Mind Hunter, which started in 2019 in Vienna, Budapest and Ljubljana, and this year continues in Vienna, also in Rijeka as the European Capital of Culture 2020.
With this exhibition entitled Mind Storm he presents his recent oeuvre of large-format paintings, produced over last five years of intense artistic creativity. Simultaneously with this one in Zagreb, the exhibition Sea Dust takes place in Vienna. The author is linked with his activities to the Austrian metropolis where in 2017 he opened painting studio. His membership in associations such as Q202 Leopoldstadt Wien and Produzentengalerie and World Association of Hungarian Artists MKVE (Magyar Képzőművészek and világban Egyesület), testify to his renown in the European artistic circles.

Fifty large format works in acrylic technique are presented to the Zagreb audience. Through several different cycles and concepts one can see a preoccupation with abstract expression, but although he builds them on different bases and approaches, they as a whole convey a stylistic coherence. These are cycles of 3ki n.g.s., B&R, Brioni, Coloses, K18, Kala, Kline, Liveless landscape, M.I. see, Memories, Metamorphosis, Salt road, S17, S18, S19, Blue Velvet underground and more.
His mastery of abstraction developed gradually, but through the number of works and cycles one can see intense work, discipline and enthusiasm, where Sakač, with his always fresh approach, changes expression, explores and seeks new inspirations.

His earlier abstract works are very gentle and subtle watercolours, with which he achieved the transition from figuration to abstraction. This was also allowed by the watercolour technique of building images with very thin, translucent and transparent tonalities and fine gradations of colours, with which he discreetly crossed the line of demarcation and the path to complete abstraction.

When he begins to use acrylic as to achieve abstract expression, he decomposes images, disintegrates forms, which, beneath the epidermis, had an architectural element or a visible raster, he converts them into abstract masses of colours, lines and matter. The motifs that dominated the first cycles were inspired by certain figural or architectural elements and entities, to disappear in later cycles in their physical appearance and to merge into an abstract mass. In cycles S17, S19, Kala, M.I.see creating strong architectural structures with a strong sense of composition he shaped rudimentary forms. In these cycles the lines of images suggest space, squares suggest windows or doors and ovals suggest tree of Lombardy poplar and the like. He builds paintings in various quarters, squares emerging from the background. Artistic expression in these cycles emerges from the interior of the artist's energy and shows the very core of the violent expressiveness of works in which he primarily deals with the issues of the formal characteristics of painting, form and colour. His paintings are deep, colour-accented compositions, wherein each element and move possesses distinctly characteristic design features. He uses various procedures in the construction of his colour images. In the first process, the colours in some paintings fade, spill over, and solid structures are reduced to translucent spreads that dissipate in some places. In other processes, solid structures re-blend and permeate each other, forming uterine mass of colour that becomes the building component of the image. He builds surfaces with facets of thick layers of paint, and we are confronted with the perception of an image as a dynamic two-dimensional surface, with no desire to become metaphorical or convey a specific message. By eliminating all the connotations, he concentrates on the strong colour and texture while exploring his own artistic boundaries. In this and all other cycles, the painter's poetics is primarily based on colour, forming tonally constructed backgrounds of entirely abstract lines, which extend in continuity. Gradually he reduces motifs that are just visible under dense spreads of colour, and physically incorporates them into images.

Over the last two years, he has dimmed the colour palette and narrowed the range of tonalities, so that the paintings are dominated by black, grey, white shades, sometimes with a touch of bluish tones, while with ocher-yellow and red occasionally accentuated and dynamized individual structures. This is evident, among other things, in the cycles of Liveless landscape, Memories, Salt road, S19, which is dominated by artistic poetics, a tonally muted colour range that emphasizes the feeling of a physical massive structure, in which black parts emphasize their strong presence, and a certain burst of ardent tone gives the necessary dynamics. In the paintings, the author does not matter the object, whether consciously or not, he moves away from the subject motives, and gradually abolishes them. The main actor then becomes the atmosphere and the pure artistic values of painting, which depicts the most concrete reality, which is maternity itself. In the painterly poetics of the Mind Hunter, he eliminates all connotations of architectural and motif structure, concentrates on the colour and texture of the paint coats, and thus moves away from the connotations of meaning. The artist only gives us his own suggestive names for the cycle of paintings such as F4, Two Heads, Locomotive, Regattas, and gives us a sense of his own associativity. In these works we read his own impression, movement, ductus, but also intimate emotion. He leaves us fascinated by these vast suggestive canvases that capture our "mental associations" and draws us into his world of emotions woven into the epidermis of his works.

The next rounded cycle consists of works in which he follows the doyens of abstract painting such as Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell or Edo Murtić, and develops a specific ductus. In these cycles, painting begins to be completely emancipated from the imperatives of meaning; it becomes uterine, because it insists on intense deposits of colour, as well as other substances that he physically incorporates into the painting. His abstract expressionism on Franz Kline' trail is visible especially in black and white compositions, where with controlled strokes he creates strongly dominant structures. The centre of the image is lost, and it continues evenly across its edges on all sides, which is precisely what abstract art tends to do.

By reducing the content, colour and form on the painting, abandoning the visual reality and transforming the artistic elements into a pure expression of the artist's inner feelings, energy and rhythms, he develops his own manuscript immanent to the field of pure painting and abstraction. On the other hand, guided by Motherwell's automatism, the author writes his concept of intuitive, irrational and accidental artwork through automated gestures, interventions produced by the brush, producing spontaneous gestural traces. Through paintings, he transforms his ideas, thoughts, feelings, and a genuine artistic impulse into the canvas, which reveals new corners of subtlety and sensibility in the construction of paintings.

Through numerous works and cycles, we follow his developmental line of abstract construction and maturation, from translucent splits, through strong dominant colours, to the rough gestural strokes dominated by texture, pasty and matter. The most recent cycle of Blue Velvet underground, which has been singled out as a whole in this exhibition, rounds up all previous painting preoccupations. In it we can find a link to early works in watercolour technique, where he delicately and with sublime transparency transcended the boundary of the appearing figurative world, into painting without solid structure, without connotation of space and without time. In this cycle of bright violet-coloured palettes, delicate tonalities, his return to translucent watercolour shades is noticeable, but this time in acrylic technique. Now the gradation of the intensity of colours and lines becomes inherent in his tendency to reduce motifs and eliminate the reflections of reality. The liveliness of the atmosphere which he achieves with the ease of the move, with an open coloristic approach, with the brightness makes sophisticated structures that correspond compositionally in harmony. Certain accents with colour, layering density, or the introduction of line-drawn pastel interventions give him a new impetus in creativity. This rounds off his previous layered oeuvre and opens up the wilderness of imagination and senses of pure abstract painting.

Magdalena Getaldić

Translated by
Tatjana Carev-Maruna



Milo Sakač, slikar i arhitekt, izložbom u Muzeju Mimara obilježava 31 godinu od svoje prve samostalne izložbe. Zagreb je samo jedna od stanica turneje putujućih izložbi pod nazivom Mind Hunter, koju je započeo 2019. godine u Beču, Budimpešti i Ljubljani, a ove godine nastavlja u Beču, te Rijeci kao Europskoj prijestolnici kulture 2020. godine.
Ovom izložbom pod nazivom Oluja uma / Mind Storm predstavlja svoj recentni opus slika velikih formata, nastalih kroz zadnjih pet godina intenzivnog slikarskog stvaralaštva. Istovremeno s ovom zagrebačkom, u Beču se odvija izložba Morska prašina / Sea Dust. Autor je svojim djelovanjem vezan za austrijsku metropolu gdje 2017. godine otvara slikarski atelijer. Njegova članstva u udruženjima poput Q202 Leopoldstadt Wien i Produzentengalerie, te svjetskom udruženju mađarskih umjetnika MKVE (Magyar Képzőművészek a Világban Egyesület), svjedoče o renomiranosti u europskim umjetničkim krugovima.
Zagrebačkoj publici predstavlja pedesetak radova velikih formata u tehnici akrila. Kroz nekoliko različitih ciklusa i koncepata vidi se preokupacija apstraktnim izričajem, no iako ih gradi na različitim osnovama i pristupima, oni u cjelini odaju stilsku koherentnost. To su ciklusi 3ki n.g.s., B&R, Brioni, Coloses, K18, Kala, Kline, Liveless landscape, M.I.see, Memories, Metamorphosis, Salt road,S17, S18, S19, Blue Velvet underground i dr.
Njegovo ovladavanje apstrakcijom razvijalo se postepeno, ali kroz brojnost radova i ciklusa vidi se intenzivan rad, disciplina i entuzijazam, gdje Sakač svojim uvijek svježim pristupom mijenja izričaj, istražuje i iznova traži nove inspiracije.

Raniji apstraktni radovi vrlo su mu nježni i suptilni akvareli, kojima je postigao prelazak iz figuracije u apstrakciju. To mu je dopuštala i akvarelna tehnika kojom je gradio slike s vrlo lazurnim, transparentnim tonalitetima i finim gradacijama boja, kojima je diskretno prešao liniju razgraničenja i put u potpunu apstrakciju.
Kada započinje koristiti akril, da bi postigao apstraktni izričaj dekomponira slike, rastače forme, koje su ispod epiderme imale arhitektonski element ili raster koji se nazirao, pretače ih u apstraktne mase boja, linija i materije. Motivi koji su dominirali u prvim ciklusima bili su nadahnuti određenim figuralnim ili arhitektonskim elementima i cjelinama, da bi u kasnijim ciklusima nestali u svojoj fizičkoj pojavnosti, i stopili se u apstraktnu masu.

U ciklusima S17, S19, Kala, M.I.see kreirajući snažne arhitektonske strukture s jakim osjećajem za kompoziciju oblikovao je rudimentarne forme. U tim ciklusima linije slika sugeriraju prostor, kvadrati prozore ili vrata, ovali jablane i slično. Slike gradi raznim četvorinama, kvadratima koji su isplivali iz pozadine. Slikarska ekspresija u ovim ciklusima izlazi iz nutrine umjetnikove energije i pokazuje samu srž silovite izražajnosti radova u kojima se prvenstveno bavi problematikom formalnih karakteristika slikarstva, formom i bojom. Njegove su slike duboke, koloristički akcentirane kompozicije, u kojima svaki element i potez posjeduje naglašeno distinktivne oblikovne karakteristike. Koristi razne postupke u građenju svojih kolorističkih slika. U prvom postupku boje u pojedinim slikama blijede, razlijevaju se, a čvrste strukture svodi u lazurne namaze koji se ponegdje rasipaju. Drugim postupcima čvrste strukture ponovno međusobno stapa i prožima, oblikujući materičnu masu boje koja postaje gradivni element slike. Plohe gradi fasetama debelih nanosa boje, a pred nas iznosi shvaćanje slike kao dinamizirane dvodimenzionalne površine, bez želje da nam postanu metaforične ili da prenose konkretnu poruku. Te postupke dodatno naglašava koristeći tehniku grebanja i urezivanja, te ulazi u njihovu površinu i opnu. Dokidajući sve konotacije, koncentrira se na jak kolorit i teksturu istražujući vlastite slikarske granice. U ovom ali i svim ostalim ciklusima slikarsku poetiku prvenstveno temelji na boji, radi tonski građene pozadine posve apstraktnih linija, koje se protežu u kontinuitetu. Postepeno reducira motive koji se tek naziru ispod gustih namaza boje, i fizički ih inkorporira u slike.

U posljednje dvije godine prigušio je paletu boja i suzio raspon tonaliteta, pa slikama dominiraju crne, sive, bijele nijanse, ponekad s primjesama plavičastih tonova, dok bi oker-žutom i crvenom povremeno akcentirao i dinamizirao pojedine strukture. To je vidljivo između ostalog i u ciklusima Liveless landscape, Memories, Salt road, S19 gdje dominira slikarska poetika, tonski prigušen raspon boja kojima naglašava osjećaj fizičke masivne strukture, u kojoj crni dijelovi ističu svoju snažnu prisutnost, a pojedini proplamsaj žarkog tona daje nužnu dinamiku.

U slikama autoru nije važan objekt, već se svjesno ili ne, udaljava od predmetnih motiva, i postepeno ih dokida. Glavni akter tada postaje atmosfera i čiste likovne vrijednosti slikarstva kojima prikazuje najkonkretniju stvarnost, a to je sama materičnost.

U slikarskoj poetici Mind huntera dokida sve konotacije arhitektonske i motivske strukturiranosti, koncentrira se na sam kolorit i teksturu namaza boje, i time se odmiče od značenjskih konotacija. Umjetnik nam jedino vlastitim sugestivnim nazivima ciklusa slika kao što su F4, Dvije glave, Lokomotiva, Regate daje naslutiti vlastitu asocijativnost. U tim slikama iščitavamo njegovu vlastitu impresiju, pokret, duktus ali i intimnu emociju. Ostavlja nas fasciniranim pred tim prostranim sugestivnim platnima koji hvataju naše „umne asocijacije“ i uvlači nas u svoj svijet emotivnosti utkanom u epidermu svojih radova.

Sljedeću zaokruženu cjelinu čine djela u kojima se povodi doajenima apstrakcije poput Franza Klinea, Roberta Motherwella ili Ede Murtića, te razvija specifičan duktus. Slikarstvo se u tim ciklusima počinje u potpunosti emancipirati od imperativa značenja, postaje materično jer inzistira na intenzivnim nanosima boje, kao i drugim tvarima koje fizički inkorporira u sliku. Njegov apstraktni ekspresionizam na tragu Franza Klinea vidljiv je osobito u crno bijelim kompozicijama gdje kontroliranim potezima kreira snažno dominantne strukture. Središte slike se gubi, a ona se nastavlja ravnomjerno preko svojih rubova na sve strane, čemu upravo tendira apstraktna umjetnost.
Redukcijom sadržaja, boje i oblika na slici, napuštanjem pojavne realnosti i pretvaranjem likovnih elemenata u čistu ekspresiju umjetnikovih unutarnjih osjećanja, energije i ritmova razvija vlastiti rukopis imanentan polju čistog slikarstva i apstrakcije. S druge strane vodeći se automatizmom Motherwella, autor svoj koncept intuitivnog, iracionalnog i slučajnog u stvaranju umjetničkog djela zapisuje kroz automatizirane kretnje, intervencije koje proizvodi kistom, pri čemu nastaju spontani gestualni tragovi. Putem slika on svoje ideje, misli, osjećaje te iskonski umjetnički poriv pretače na platno koje nam otkriva nove zakutke suptilnosti i senzibilnosti u građenju slika. Kroz brojne radove i cikluse pratimo njegovu razvojnu liniju apstraktnog građenja i sazrijevanja, od lazurnih rastakanja, preko jakih dominantnih boja, do grubih gestualnih poteza gdje dominiraju tekstura, pastoznost i materija.

Najrecentniji ciklus Blue Velvet underground koji je izdvojen i kao cjelina na ovoj izložbi, zaokružuje sve dosadašnje slikarske preokupacije. U njemu možemo naći poveznicu s ranim radovima u tehnici akvarela, gdje je nježnim i sublimnim lazurama prešao granicu pojavnog figurativnog svijeta, u slikarstvo bez čvrste strukture, bez konotacije prostora i bez vremena. U ovom ciklusu svijetlih ljubičasto obojenih paleta, nježnih tonaliteta zamjetan je njegov povratak lazurnim akvarelnim prelijevanjima, no ovaj puta u tehnici akrila. Sada gradacija intenziteta boja i linija, postaje svojstvena njegovoj sklonosti u redukciji motiva i dokidanju odslika stvarnosti. Lepršavost atmosfere koju postiže lakoćom poteza, otvorenim kolorističkim pristupom, svjetlinom čini profinjene strukture koje kompozicijski usklađeno korespondiraju. Određeni akcenti bojom, gustoćom nanosa ili uvođenjem linijski iscrtanih pastelnih intervencija, daju mu novi impuls u stvaralaštvu. Time se zaokružuje njegov dosadašnji slojeviti opus i otvara polje bespuća imaginacije i osjetila čistog apstraktnog slikarstva.

Magdalena Getaldić


Other exhibitions by Milo Sakač

Milo Sakač

I CAN HEAR, JUST NOT CLEARLY

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Milo Sakač

Retrospect 'Mind Hunter'