Urban Interventions

Distrust of the established channels though which art is distributed (the art system and its institutions), the need to gain the attention of a mass audience, and the conviction that art can bring about a positive change in society if it truly reaches its members brought the 1970s generation of conceptual artists into the public space. Bypassing the museums and galleries, the artists wanted to address audiences that don’t necessarily have a prior affinity for art and establish a form of direct communication with them. Thus, the street became a natural environment in which to carry out their work. With a belief in the creative potential of every individual, and in an attempt to eliminate the divide between non-artists and artists, it was on the streets that artists could assume a more active role, and invite any random passer-by to participate in the creative process. Overstepping and thus blurring the boundaries between everyday life and art, their artistic practice expanded into ordinary situations, various other forms of expression and modest materials. Their actions in public spaces included photos, flyers, banners and films, as well as strategies they often borrowed from political and marketing campaigns, at times intervening in cities like activists in order draw attention to pressing social issues. Many of these interventions were documented in photographs that later found their way into museum collections, like the ones in front of you here. 

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  Crveni peristil / Red Peristyle

  
  

  Pave Dulčić, Slaven Sumić, Denis Dokić, Vjeko Benzon, Ante Aljinović, Srđan Blažević, Radovan Kogej, Nedan Đapić, Zvonimir Buljević

  1968 / 1998

  colour photographs

  x (20.5 x 30.5) cm
  © MSU

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  Grupa TOK

  Postcard, The City View, 1972
  

  Dubravko Budić, Vladimir Gudac, Davor Lončarić, Ivan Šimunović, Gustav Zechel, Darko Zubčević

  Action in Pazin, b/w photograph

  © MSU

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  Braco Dimitrijević

  A Passer-by I met by Chance at 12:15 / Prolaznik kojeg sam slučajno sreo u 12:15 sati, 1971
  

  b/w photograph / photo canvas

  Indian ink, mixed media / canvas

  270 x 237.5 cm

  © MSU

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  Marijan Molnar

  For the Democratization of Art / Za demokratizaciju umjetnosti, 1979-1981
  

  b/w photographs / paper

  photographs: 6 x (18 x 24) cm

  © MSU