In 2007 Gorki Žuvela donated valuable collection of 85 posters to the Museum of Fine Arts, which he has mostly designed himself. The donation also includes posters of exhibitions Žuvela has participated in and which were designed by his colleagues: Ivan Picelj, Boris Bućan and Mladen Galić, as well as the famous poster of the Polish trade union Solidarity.
Gorki Žuvela belongs to a generation of artists gathered around the Zagreb’s Gallery of the Student Center (Martinis, Iveković, Trbuljak, Bućan, Arsovski ...), which affirmed a conceptual approach to art and was forerunner of the radical and innovative art methods and practices during the 70’s of the last century. While questioning the nature and meaning of art, and expanding its domain by new media, many of them were also very successful in graphic design. The poster, as the most visible design product, was of interest to the artists of the era who wanted to abandon safety of the gallery space and involved themselves with interventions conceived for the public places. In other words, the poster as "street image" was an ideal medium for the artists with critical attitude towards their own social and cultural context and dull routine of the typical artistic life. They abandoned neutral language of modernism in favour of distinctive individualism, and often expressed provocative ideas in more effective and visually uncommon ways. Most of the time, such design resulted with posters that were addressing active and curious observers, those who were not satisfied with mere notification and formal correctness. Design career of Gorki Žuvela began in this period and with work mainly related to the cultural scene. Gorki mostly collaborated with the Croatian National Theatre and exhibition institutions in Split, designing posters for shows, exhibitions and cultural events. In his design one can immediately recognize conceptual „manuscript of the generation", no matter if posters were created by means of illustration, mainly photography, or by text-only solutions marked by the inventive typography. The confirmation of Žuvela’s comprehension of design as a critical social practice comes from the fact that he initiated publication of Victor Papanek’s book Design for the Real World (1973).
Gorki Žuvela (1946) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1970 from the class of painter Miljenko Stancic. Since 1976 he is a lecturer at the School of Fine Arts in Split, since 1995 at the College of Art’s Education, and after 1997 at the Arts Academy of the University of Split.
On view till 7 May 2017.
Exhibition was mad epossible thanks the grant by the Minsitry of Culture RH and the Department for culture, arts and historical core.
