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Igor Roncevic: Autochrome

"Let's take a monochrome forexample. Its rule is to expand like a polystyrene foam. It coversthe canvas from edge to edge. After the appearance of each newmonochrome less and less space remains for those which aresupervening successively. Each following monochrome ahouldcontain more and more content and reasons for its origin, notloosing its character, of course. If we direct a monochrome, apainting in the colour, as Yves Klein has directed it toward thesky, toward ourselves, we shall gain a monochrome of our ownhair, eyes, skin, perhaps even a voice colour, ifmonochromous."1

Occured as an expression of anecessity for releasing the painting from any other admixturesbeyond the painter's opinion itself, from any idea orsignificance functioning not as a pure painting, the monochromehas embodied a naked visual sensitivity. All the above wasanticipated by Maljevic as late as at the beginning of thiscentury longing for a "pure action" and an"absolute Pointlessness" as for final goals ofSuprematism. 2 The American hard-edge painters in the fifties andsixties (for example Ad Reinhardt and Barnett Newman) pick out anautonomous colour to the uttermost as a sole meidum of thepainter's speech, being merely self-sufficient. The painting isjust a visual art, an object to which should not be explained butonly experienced, something which should be felt.

However, this is today at the endof the 20th century already a long ago adopted fact, anachievement, which is senseless to be emphasized much less to berepeated. If this is were a relevant painting event of an idea, abasis of art conception, an additional reason of emerging.

Although we have caught glimpsesof a monolithic construction of painting in his previous cycle,in his "Zvukovi" ("Sounds"), at first sightit is very unusual that Roncevic, who is an exceptionalcolourist, has self-restricted himself on such a minimalisticaction as a "one-colour painting" is (as he himselfpoints out). However, this occurrence should be observed in acontext of a more and more emphasized analytical component withinIgor's painting throughout the last few years. His cycles aregrouped around the themes such as for example a relation betweenbackground and sign in "Trag ruke" (Track of a hand),blending of two painter's coats of different characters -colouristic composing and automatism, construction anddestruction in "Zvukovi" (Sounds) or linking the"incompatible" painter's textures in"Strahovi" (Fears). Aware of the fact that painting isnot a predominant artistic medium any more, Roncevic introducesherewith, but not giving up painting, a conceptual element as asolee possibility of his survival. Thus, on this occasion as wellhe is researching the possibilities and limitations of paintingwithin one previously imposed and clearly conceived paintingproblem. This time this is one nearly forgotten characteristic ofa painter's medium - his mimetic capability. Roncevic sets anapparently unfeasible assignement. He, namely, intends, byextremely reduced means, one colour painted on the canvas in widelines of a palette knife, to conceive something complicated as itwere his self-portrait of some kind.

Focusing on and enlargingindividual parts of his own body, Roncevic tries to catch a moreprecise tint of his eyes, hair, complexion. The result has beeneach time different in three attempts, the monochrome tintsdiffer mutually. The eye colour is one bluer, the other time moregreenish, then the greyish prevails. Hair, skin, eyes, arechanging continuously, a real image of man becomes an illusion.There exists only a range of instantaneous images, by means ofwhich it is possible hardly to nearly conjure up a completeimage.

However, such a result does notspeak about the limitation of painter's medium, but about anelusion of man, his changeability which is hard to imitate, evenin such tiny details, as well as about the fruitlessness of suchendeavours. This is the reason why Roncevic, when speaking aboutthese monochromes, emphasizes that just attempts are in question.In spite of this, he has succeeded to show that by an"axiomatics of the simple, complex things may besolved" as he has mentioned explaining the aim of thisexhibition.

And for all that, balancingbetween simplicity and complexity, mimetics and abstraction,seriousness and a hedonistic frisking with colour, he remainstrue to himself achieving, thus, works of a subtle colourism andrelations of colour shades originating from ranging individual monochromes.


EvelinaTurkovic

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1/ a fragment from a still notpublished text of Igor Roncevic dealing with painter'shandwriting

2/ Kazimir Maljevic, Suprematism -Pointlessness, publ. in "SIC" Workshop, Belgrade, 1980

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Igor Rončević
Brn in Zadar 1951. He graduaated from the Acaademy of Fine Arts in Zagreb inthe class of Prof. [ime Peric. He collaborated with Master'sWorkshop of Prof. Ljubo Ivancic and Prof. Nikola Reiser from1979. to 1981. As scholarship holder he spent a year (1981/1982)at the Paris Académie des Beaux Arts, with Professor Lagrange.



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Type of programme: exhibition
Lasting time: 08.05.1996. - 24.05.1996.

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