René Grgić-Đaković

René Grgić-Đaković (1986, Osijek, Croatia) graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. In 2021 he's the recipient of a full scholarship for his MFA at the New York Academy of Art. Inspired by artists as various as Titian and Tarkovski, Grgić-Đaković uses mostly oil on canvas or panel. Using a realistic visual approach in figurative painting, his motivation mostly comes spontaneously, experiencing painting as a form of meditation, an act both intellectual and spiritual. Calculated and meticulous, using small brush strokes, portraits are what challenge and motivate him most. On these portraits, often done is small formats recalling Renaissance painters, the focus is on the pose, the atmosphere and the gaze. In all of Grgić-Đaković's work, tradition therefore plays an important role. But as is apparent, this role is limited to the form, not to the content. There, the artist places elements particular to his surroundings of Eastern Croatia, whether natural or social, or even political, that challenge the viewer away from nostalgia and into a deeper connection with our time and all its complexities.