Tomislav Gotovac
Marshal Tito Square, I love you!
on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Tomislav Gotovac
curator: Darko Šimičić
Institute of Contemporary Art, Trg kralja Tomislava 20, Zagreb
Exhibition Opening: Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.
The exhibition remains open until February 11, 2017
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12:00 – 19:00
Program:
Thursday, February 9, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.
Conversation about Tomislav Gotovac and his work, participants:
Darko Šimičić, Jadranka Vinterhalter, Janka Vukmir
Institute Tomislav Gotovac celebrates the 80th anniversary of the artist’s birth with the exhibition “Marshal Tito Square, I love you!”
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Performance Marshal Tito Square, I love you! was performed on October 14, 1997. It started, as well as many other Gotovac’s actions, exactly at noon, after the detonation of the Grič cannon. From the starting position at Meštrović’s Well of Life, the artist was moving through the square and stopped at different locations: by the fence in front of the Law School, next to the bench, by the lamps and flower beds, on the corner, and by the stairs of the Museum of Arts and Crafts or the stairs of the School of Applied Arts, next to the kiosk , in front of the monument to St. George, and similar places which all due to their appearance or some other reason attracted artist’s attention.
At each location, depending on the architecture, physical barriers, or a particular object, the artist puts his body in relation to a given place. He is standing, sitting, lying, bending; strives to adapt to these objects as much as possible. The expression of the physical effort required to execute this performance is highlighted by the choice of artist’s costume (one-piece overall, sneakers, baseball cap, gloves) and equipment (baseball ball): performer is apparently the worker and the athlete. But there is one detail that sets him apart from that role. On the back of his orange overall, in a place reserved for the name/logo of the company in which the employee works or the name of the sports club for which the athlete plays instead stays the stylized inscription which reads, Howard Hawks. The dedication explicated in this way gets the meaning of corporation or the club, and becomes a symbol of the powerful forces close to the artist.
Gotovac has performed a whole range of actions and performances in the streets of Zagreb, Belgrade, and Osijek. Urban sites have found a place in his films and photographs, but they played a special role as a space of exciting interaction between the artist and his audience. It was exactly urban actions that have strengthened Gotovac’s status of a well-known persona, a celebrity, a man who is not afraid to show his naked body publicly and make his own views public. For him, the city is a human being, has a body and a soul, blood flow, height, weight, and volume.
The choice of Marshall Tito Square for the place of the action is determined by the artist’s reminiscences of his childhood; it was here that he has strolled with his parents and attentively observed the naked bodies at the Well of Llife. This square has, as well as so many other city streets and squares changed its name throughout the history. Therefore, this action can be regarded as Gotovac’s dedication to the person he always said was the great director and film project actor, as it is widely known, Tito and Gotovac shared a strong passion for Hollywood movies.
all information:
Darko Šimičić
Institut Tomislav Gotovac
Krajiška 29, 10000 Zagreb
091 51 42 317
tomislav.gotovac.institute@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/TomislavGotovacInstitute