Current

Tina Dobrajc
Nothing is Going to Happen Without a Warning

STRABAG Kunstforum is pleased to invite you to the exhibition Nothing is Going to Happen Without a Warning by TINA DOBRAJC.

OPENING
Thursday, 12.12.2024, 6:30–9 p.m.

WELCOME
6.30 p.m.
Axel Thomaschütz                                                                                         
Board Member STRABAG AG

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alenka Gregorič
Artistic Director Cukrarna, Ljubljana
Jury Member STRABAG Artaward International

The paintings of Tina Dobrajc captivate because of their unique combination of human figures amid the natural landscape, depictions of folklore traditions and the inclusion of contemporary feminist themes. Most of her intricate scenes are set in the forest, where diverse creatures meet, giving us an ominous feeling that a piercing scream hides behind the silence of the woods. The grotesque quality of the figures, which peek out elusively from behind trees like ghosts and glare at us, only reveals itself when our gaze lingers on each of them, in contrast to the serene stillness of the landscape that the paintings radiate at first glance.
The mostly female figures in Tina's paintings find themselves in various roles. Whether with carnival masks, in national costume, with a Molotovka in hand, or peacefully posed, they bear a shared spirit of emancipation. The incorporation of iconography and objects from the urban landscape causes disruptions and creates unpredictable tensions, but more than that, the artist uproots the traditional depiction of the human melancholic contemplation of nature by juxtaposing the urban and the rural. And if in her earlier works the female figure enters the pictorial field with a calm demeanour, in her more recent paintings, she is depicted in direct confrontation with the viewer, in provocation to a direct rebellion. With the suggestive gestures of the figures, through symbols and contrasting situations, the paintings encourage the viewer to jolt out of apathy. Tina's forests literally cry out for action.
Alenka Gregorič

ON VIEW
13.12.2024–23.1.2025
(from 23.12.2024–6.1.2025 the exhibition is closed due to the holidays)

REGISTRATION
kunstforum@strabag.com
+43 1 224 22 2107

exhibition video

Tina Dobrajc on video