Ivona Pupačić
In the Living Room and Above (Showcase)
2021
C-print on canvas (photomontage)
428 x 150 cm
The work Showcase is part of a photographic series called In the Living Room and Above. The massive form isolated within the black background is the result of the reinstallation of numerous objects by taking photos in separate sections, which ultimately simulated a single photograph through meticulous photomontage. The presented motif of the showcase does not exist as a single object, rather it forms a separate pictorial reality. The sight of an overfilled showcase is traditionally repeated in Croatian homes as a collective memory constructed from customs and rituals, that are sometimes subtly humorous. The very definition of the word “showcase” implies a storage cabinet, an exhibition space protected from dust. The well-known collective memory of the showcase, as such, in our area bears witness to a kind of memento mori, as a framed reminder of the transience of life.
Artist Statement/Bio
Ivona Pupačić is a visual artist born in 1996 in Split, Croatia. She graduated from the Arts Academy of the University of Split at the Department of Painting under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Vedran Perkov in 2021. She has won the Rector’s Award for the academic year 2019/2020, and the Deans’ Award in 2022. She has partici- pated in several group exhibitions, among which are Erste Fragments 18 in Zagreb, SouthWest–NorthEast in Helsinki, Slavonian biennale in Osijek. She won a one-year art scholarship as part of the Erste fragments 16 competition. She had one solo exhibition in 2021, in The Golden Gate – Loggia in Split. After completing her master’s degree in painting, she enrolled in a graduate study of Visual Culture and the Fine Arts with a Specialization in Printmaking at the Arts Academy of the University of Split, where she is currently engaged as an expert associate.
