An Atlas of the Lesser World is the title of the exhibition and the latest series of paintings by Zlatan Vehabović, one of the most intriguing Croatian painters. This is his first solo presentation at the Museum of Fine Arts. The series of around thirty paintings, through which Vehabović continues his systematic and relentless exploration of the medium, was created as the artist’s response to an invitation from the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb to intervene in the museum’s display and collection. However, due to the closure of the museum as a result of the pandemic and earthquake, the artist ultimately had access only to digitized museum materials and archives. Starting from his own sensibility and expression that relies heavily on the narrative approach and collage methodology, Vehabović actually began his artistic exploration with the museum’s digital collection, consisting of over a hundred thousand digital records. Following a specific and highly personal code, he then selected diverse materials that are rarely found together in the usual institutional museological approach. The result of this approach is conceptually and formally layered compositions in which all the complex connections and processes preceding the actual painting work are clearly visible. Moreover, they showcase the exceptional skill and visual consistency that we have been recognizing in Zlatan Vehabović’s work for years.

Zlatan Vehabović (b. 1982, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina) graduated from the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb in 2000. He continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where he obtained a degree in painting in 2006 under the mentorship of Prof. Zlatko Kesar. In 2007, he enrolled in the postgraduate doctoral program in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Since 2016, he has been working as an assistant professor at the Painting Department of the same institution. From 2006 to the present day, he has held around twenty solo exhibitions and participated in over sixty group exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. A standout among his notable solo showings is the exhibition Dark White Earth at the Art Pavilion in Zagreb in 2018. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his work, and in 2016, he participated in the prestigious residency program, The Arctic Circle. His works can be found in numerous Croatian and foreign private and public collections, including the European Central Bank; Filip Trade Collection / Lauba - House for People and Art, Zagreb; Hypo Group Collection, Zagreb; Erste Bank Collection, Zagreb; Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria; Albertina Museum, Vienna; European Central Bank, Frankfurt; Art Collection of the European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium; and Collection of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt, Germany. He is a member of the Croatian Society of Fine Artists. He lives and works in Zagreb.