A solo exhibition by one of the most prominent contemporary Croatian painters, Bojan Šumonja, is opening in
the museum space, showcasing his new large-scale works.
The exhibition features a lavish palette that opens up wondrous landscapes of the flora and fauna before us. Within this visual richness, we most frequently encounter flamingos – elegant birds that captivate with their beauty. Consequently, flamingos have often served as an inspiration in mythology and world literature. From ancient Egypt, where the flamingo was celebrated as a manifestation of the sun god, through Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, where they are reduced to mere objects, to Yoko Ogawa’s distopia, in which they become the first victims of collective oblivion – flamingos have always mirrored the human soul. The most poignant mark was left by the Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga in his story ‘The Flamingos’ Stockings’, where the birds’ pursuit of a false, artificial splendour condemns the entire flock to eternal damnation and pain.
It is precisely these contradictions between mythical beauty and an anxious reality that Bojan Šumonja juxtaposes through his painting. The aesthetically compelling canvases, with imags of birds birds and other rich landscape details, are done technicaly perfect; however, at the same time, they create an eerie, post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Namely, among the living flamingos, the artist subtly places plastic flamingo object – children’s beach rings. The organic and the artificial merge into one, while the forests in the background appear as static, bare trees or are engulfed in flames. Meanwhile, chimneys, toxic smoke, and discarded plastic objects begin to dominate the horizons.
Thus, the title of the exhibition, ‘Everything is Fine, It Just Doesn’t Seem That Way’, resonates as a mantra of a modern society that refuses to open its eyes to ecological and social collapse. Bojan Šumonja’s paintings confront nature, animals, and plants with these new, artificial ‘non-beings’, turning them into ghostly monuments of our environment.
This exhibition is therefore not only a superb artistic experience and a presentation of an artist métier, but it directly confronts us with a crucial question: have we transformed our own world into a merely seemingly beautiful backdrop scenary that is slowly but inexorably burning and devouring itself?
Bojan Šumonja (Pula, 1960) ranks at the top of contemporary painting. He graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (Accademia di Belle Arti) in 1984, but found his most authentic and powerful expression in the medium of painting. He is one of the key figures of contemporary cultural life in Pula and a co-founder of the Croatian Association of Visual Artists (HDLU) of Istria.
As an artist of an enviable mastery of the painterly craft, he has held over 100 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 200 group exhibitions both in Croatia and abroad. His outstanding contribution to art is confirmed by numerous awards and accolades, among which the Grand Prix at the 7th Biennale of Painting stands out – the highest national award by which he was officially proclaimed the best painter in Croatia.
His works are included in numerous public and private collections. He lives and creates in Pula, where he has also been the long-standing curator of the Poola Gallery.