Invisible Structures

An international exhibition featuring the works of French, Finnish and Croatian artists is taking place in Zagreb.

Invisible Structures
art – science

Marine Antony _ Elias Crespin 
Ivana Franke _ Pierre Gallais
Tommi Grönlund & Petteri Nisunen 
Martina Kramer_Isabelle Sordage
Mirjana Vodopija

16 April – 15 June, 2014
Gallery Klovićevi dvori
Jezuitski trg 4

In a special way – through works of art and events – this international exhibition proposes answers to the question: How to approach the unknown, the very limits of knowledge, how to shed light on the link in human consciousness between the material and the non-material world?

This question became a professional and scientific challenge for the author of this project, Martina Kramar and a team of artists and scientists from France, Finland and Croatia who project their perceptions or imaginary structures of light, sound, matter, elements into the space of the gallery Klovićevi dvori, a former Jezuit monastery located in Zagreb’s upper town, thereby transforming it.

A series of lectures and events among artists and scientists will take place parallel to the exhibition in cooperation with the Technical Museum, Ruđer Bošković Institute and Academy of Art in Zagreb.  This is an opportunity for visitors to have direct contact with some of the artists at the opening of this exhibition and to highlight the potential, for future generations, of innovative approaches and interpretations related to art and science through educational workshops organized by the Gallery Klovićevi dvori. This project will continue in autumn 2014 in France at the Vasarely Foundation in Aix-en-Provence.

The main partners of the project in Zagreb are Gallery Klovićevi dvori, French Institute, Ministry of Culture and Embassy of Finland.

The works of the following artists will be represented at this exhbition:

Isabelle Sordage
(1964) lives in Nice (FR)

http://www.isabelle-sordage.fr(Link to another website.)

Studied sound at the art academy École des Beaux Arts Villa Arson in Nice. Researches the spatial dimensions and visual forms of sound. She is the founder and head of the artists’ residence Atelier expérimental in Clans, devoted to art projects in sensory perception that build up specific relations with science.

Pierre Gallais
(1950) lives in Lyon (FR)

www.institutdemathologie.fr(Link to another website.)

Artist and mathematician. His 3D artworks are based on mathematical principles and set up in relation to architecture; he researches internal principles of form and mechanisms of spatial perception. Many exhibitions, cooperation with musicians and stage design, regular contributions at university and professional symposiums on the art-science relationship. 

Martina Kramer
(1965) lives in Rustrel (FR)

www.martinakramer.net(Link to another website.)

Studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia, living in France since 1989. In her work, which even in its spatial forms is characterised by principles of painting, she examines how the basic elements of visibility affect the development of perception and experience. Since 2003 she has conceived and executed several projects featuring a relationship between art and physics. Many exhibitions in France, Croatia and other European countries.   

Ivana Franke
(1973) lives in Berlin (DE)

www.ivanafranke.net(Link to another website.)

Studied at the Graphic Art Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia. At the meeting-place of the microscopic and macroscopic structures of matter and light, she imagines spacea and spatial drawings that at the same time fictionalise scientific proposals and carry palpable-sensory reality. Many exhibitions in Croatia and abroad, and at international contemporary-art events.  

Mirjana Vodopija
(1963) lives in Zagreb (HR)

Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts (ALU) in Zagreb, Croatia. Starting from the belief that the visible aspect is only one of many possibilities, her works examine the connection between the system of perception and the state of the consciousness. Three-dimensional light sculptures or poetic displays of air currents bring the viewer in touch with the internal forces behind the perceptible. Professor at ALU. Many exhibitions and awards in Croatia and abroad. 



Tommi Grönlund and Petteri Nisunen
(1967 and 1962) live in Helsinki (FI)

http://g-n.fi(Link to another website.)

After studying architecture, they founded an art duo in 1993. They research natural phenomena and forces such as magnetism, gravitation, heat, aurora borealis. Their 3D installations are based on scientific concepts, which they transfer to the sensory and poetic sphere by using sophisticated mechanisms. Many exhibitions worldwide and at international contemporary-art exhibitions. 

Marine Antony
(1985) lives in Poitiers (FR)

http://marineantony.net(Link to another website.)

Studied at the art academy École européenne supérieure de l’image in Poitiers, and at Montreal University. Her works are conceived on the boundary of disciplines, with sound and movement inscribed in a visual tapestry. In her installations she researches the perceptive potentials of space. Having recently completed her studies (2009), she is exhibiting and participating in science-art projects worldwide. 

Elias Crespin
(1963) lives in Paris (FR)

http://ateliercrespin.tumblr.com(Link to another website.)

Grandson of a constructivist artist and son of a mathematician, he was first educated in computer science. This experience became the basis for his artwork, in which digital programming controls the movement of air drawings. Between continuity and deconstruction, these forms made of lightweight materials bring to mind certain internal principles of matter. 

Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond
(1940) physicist and essayist. Lives in Nice (FR)

His fields are theoretic physics, epistemology, criticism and history of science. He has published several books and essays in these fields. His most recent book La science n’est pas l’art contains many texts about contemporary artists and selected artworks. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Alliage (culture, science and engineering) and directs the Open Science collection by the publisher Seuil.

Étienne Ghys
(1954) mathematician. Lives in Lyon (FR)

Research in geometry and dynamical systems, researcher and professor at the École normale supérieure in Lyon. Author of the films Dimensions: a walk through mathematics and Chaos: an adventure in mathematics, and editor of the journal Images des mathématiques.