Lara Pan in Conversation with Izvor Pende
WhiteHot Magazine
September 2020
Lara Pan
LARA PAN: Your work is in good international collections and you have collaborated with some extraordinary painters. Who are you? Can you introduce yourself to Whitehot Magazine's readers?
IZVOR PENDE: I studied painting in Düsseldorf, where I lived for many years. I currently live in Dubrovnik where I have a studio. Dubrovnik is a small beautiful city, everything is close-by, the climate is excellent and it is an ideal environment to isolate oneself inside the studio walls.
These last few years have been quite dynamic with numerous exhibitions and projects. I would single out the joint exhibition with Daniel Richter “Swimming Together” by curator Branko Franceschi, who presented himself in three Croatian museums of contemporary art – in Split 2017 and in Zagreb and Rijeka in 2018.
It was an excellent experience and the project was named the best exhibition of the year in Croatia, for which the curator received a well-deserved award. Then there was the exhibition Point of Interrupted Departures with artists Marijana Pende and Slaven Tolj, with which the city of Dubrovnik in cooperatin with the city of Venice presented itself for the first time at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. And Yes, my paintings are mainly in private collections in Germany and can also be seen in museum collections.
LP: The New York exhibition "Golden Hours " which opened last year at David Richard gallery, which I curated, was a success story and now as a result you have been discovered by several galleries. Tell me more about this body of work that was featured in NYC?
IP: The exhibition at the David Richard Gallery in New York was my first solo exhibition. I presented myself at ths exhibition with selected works from the series I exhibited at the museums with Daniel Richter. These works are very important for me as they represent my artistic turning point. The gallery space is exceptional, and for me, after the paintings themselves, this is the next most important aspect. Some of these paintings can still be seen at David Richard Gallery in NYC.
Izvor Pende, David Richard Gallery, NYC
LP: From a figurative painter you now find yourself making abstraction. How did this process happen?
IP: After a long period of figurative expression, I felt something was missing so I decided to make a radical change and continue in a completely different direction. Painting is a way of thinking for me – the construction process of the painting depicts the artist’s thought process. For me, this is the most important factor. This transition period was not so simple. During the first year, I created a small series of paintings in which the figuration was still visible. It was necessary to radically change everything I had done through the painting process, and detach myself from my sphere of safety - tear down elements that had actually worked well for the purpose of creating something new.
LP: When I say creative process what are you thinking about? How do you describe evolution in your new paintings made during the lockdown?
IP: Hard work! Paintings from series to series gradually evolve. I believe it is a matter of the process itself. From abstract images and spatial compositions in the beginning to recent images in which the repetition of certains forms are transferred to other works which result in a specific fictional construction - my individual fictitious subject abstraction. I don’t think the current lockdown situation has particularly influenced my work, as in creating each new series, I am in a sort of ‘lockdown’ of my own in the studio.
Izvor Pende, Galerie Gans, Wien
LP: Now you have a new exhibition at the Gans Gallery in Vienna. What are your impressions? Is it your first collaboration with Gans?
IP: Gans is a new gallery with an old inheritance. Susie and Marina did an excellent job with my exhibition. I am looking forward to following collaborations in the near future. I am happy that my work has been shown to Vienna public through their eyes...
LP: Your next exhibition is called Sweet Dreams and some new paintings (as you said) looks more aggressive - not to say evil. What are your plans with this new body of work ?
IP: I am currently working on a new series which will partially be exhibited in the Lazareti Art Workshop in Dubrovnik. The exhibition has come just at the right time to see how the paintings function outside the studio, in an exhibition space. I am also interested in how the audience will react, as this new series differs somewhat from the previous works. The images are more expressive and quite aggressive - but I wouldn’t call them evil! It remains to be seen how things will further develop. WM
Izvor Pende, Daniel Richter, Swimming Together 2018 ?Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
Associated Artist
Associated Exhibitions
- Izvor Pende Golden Hours
November 17, 2019 - December 20, 2019
MORE INFO
Associated News
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October 6, 2020
Lara Pan in Conversation with Izvor Pende
WhiteHot Magazine
September 2020
Lara Pan -
November 30, 2019
Golden Hours
20 Nov — 20 Dec 2019
at the David Richard Gallery in New York, United States
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November 18, 2019
Izvor Pende: Golden Hours
GalleriesNow.net
November 18, 2020
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November 1, 2019
Press Release - Izvor Pende "Golden Hours" at David Richard Gallery -
May 10, 2019
Opening of the exhibition "Place of intermittent departures" at the Venice Biennale
min-kulture.hr
May 10, 2019 -
May 9, 2019
OPEN EXHIBITION Dubrovnik presents itself for the first time at the Venice Biennale
DULIST
May 9, 2019 -
May 8, 2019
Point of Interrupted Departures
Artists: Izvor Pende, Slaven Tolj and Marijana Pende
Exhibition: 11 May 2019 — 24 Nov 2019 -
May 8, 2019
Point of Interrupted Departures -
May 2, 2019
Dubrovnik for the first time independently at the Venice Biennale
HRT Magazin
May 2, 2019
Sanda Dicak/V.M./Radio Dubrovnik/HRT
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April 26, 2019
PHOTO / 'PLACES OF INTERRUPTED DEPARTURES' The 'Dubrovnik Pavilion' project presented at the Venetian Mostra
DULIST
April 26, 2019 -
April 14, 2019
"SWIM TOGETHER": EXHIBITION OF DANIEL RICHTER AND IZVOR PENDE -
March 3, 2019
Daniel Richter and Izvor Pende at MMSU: A Dialogue of Different Painting Worlds
Novilist.her
March 3, 2019
Kim Cuculi? -
January 1, 2019
Point of Interrupted Departures -
May 10, 2018
Izvor Pende - change to abstraction
Cellesche Zeitung
By Jörg Worat
May, 10, 2018 -
February 22, 2018
Izvor Pende & Daniel Richter: Swimming Together