...Roje was formed and matured as an artist surrounded by constant changes of language, themes and the basic meaning of art, in extremely precarious living conditions in which he had to find and affirm himself in the face of dramatic social turmoil and political circumstances. He learned that one could overcome the state of individual turmoil by being fully devoted to the impetus and calling of an artist. ..
...Roje’s core artistic views originated in the local setting of his spiritual formation, they were then further developed in New York and Los Angeles, where his famous poster for the movie M.A.S.H. and all future painting series were created. Still, he never became, because he could actually never be, a true American artist. He remained, by virtue of his culture, essentially a European artist, surely because he primarily imported and inscribed his own, one might say, tragic existential fate into his paintings, especially those created in the final years...
...With his distinct individual example, Arsen Roje joined the ranks of many artists of previous generations from our cultural region, who have at some point left the milieu they emerged from and went out into the “big wide world” in search of improvement, development, as well as recognition that they were not necessarily able to find in places they, for a while or forever, departed from. Roje created and affirmed his painting in conditions of the American art system, but whether that was something he dreamt about when he left Split remains his intimate personal secret. The departure from his homeland was to him justified as much as the homecoming for his artistic oeuvre is warranted, thanks to persons closest to him and all those whose efforts were invested in achieving this goal. This exhibition in Roje’s birthplace confirms an unwritten rule previously corroborated in many different cases: the artist leaves and his work returns to the place of origin, and it is precisely in that place that the memory of his artistic heritage will prevail the longest and with a highest measure of respect at journey’s end....
(From the introductory essay by Ješa Denegri)
Arsen Roje (Split, 1937 - Los Angeles, 2007), briefly attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb before moving to Paris in 1966, then to New York in1968, to finally settle in Los Angeles in 1971, where he lived and worked until his death. Roje exhibited at group and solo exhibitions all over the United States, and was represented by Ivan Karp's O.K. Harris Gallery in New York and Perez Projects in Los Angeles. Roje won prestigious Motion Picture Advertising Award two times, for the poster of Robert Altman's film M.A.S.H. 1970, and Casanova by Federico Fellini in 1977.
On view till 28.7.2019.
