VIPs of New Zagreb
Personal Project
New Zagreb (Novi Zagreb in Croatian) is the part of the City of Zagreb (Croatia) located south of the Sava river.
It is mostly residential, consisting of blocks of flats and tower blocks that were built during the Socialist era (1945–1990). During this time, it grew in many neighborhoods, each special in its way and each of them with its own neighborhood VIP that never walked on any red carpet, but that didn't hurt their importance.
New Zagreb is where I grew up, and long coffee sittings in neighborhood bars brought to my attention people that everyone knew, people that were appreciated and valuable for the Croatian culture and academic world. Some acknowledged locally, but many nationally and with my friend Pera Kraljic Podrug, an artist and artisan, decided to take them out of their neighborhoods.
Here we are with Damir Medvešek, born in Zagreb on January 23, 1959.
After elementary school, he attends mechanical engineering at the Ruđer Bošković School, after which he completes the design of clothing and textiles at the Textile School of Higher Education. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the painting class of Professor Zlatko Kauzlaric Atač.
He has been exhibiting regularly since 1985, solo and in group exhibitions at home and abroad.
He is employed as a master painter at the painting laboratory of the HNK Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. Set design for the drama play "King Lear" in Brijuni is one amongst the most noted.He is an advisor to the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.
His works are in the collections of Caroline of Monaco, Kennedy, La Martina, Lacosta, Fashion Brioni, Mercedes, Cartier, and others.
After elementary school, he attends mechanical engineering at the Ruđer Bošković School, after which he completes the design of clothing and textiles at the Textile School of Higher Education. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the painting class of Professor Zlatko Kauzlaric Atač.
He has been exhibiting regularly since 1985, solo and in group exhibitions at home and abroad.
He is employed as a master painter at the painting laboratory of the HNK Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. Set design for the drama play "King Lear" in Brijuni is one amongst the most noted.He is an advisor to the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.
His works are in the collections of Caroline of Monaco, Kennedy, La Martina, Lacosta, Fashion Brioni, Mercedes, Cartier, and others.
Few facts about Damir and his quotes: - Women in his pictures represent his gratitude to women, their inner beauty
- "I'm doing ... it's a spinning wheel that I can't stop."
- He took part in the Croatian War of Independence and is pride of it "a hidden enemy was behind our backs, but we didn't notice."
- He was born in Zagreb and grew up in an orphanage
- The phrase he will never say: "F**k, on what have I squandered my life?".
- "I'm painting to live, and I'll die painting. If I stop painting, I'll get sick."
- "Women raised me as a child in a home. These women are beautiful because they are beautiful on the inside; I thank these women and my mother for being in this world."
- Works at HNK Zagreb (Croatian National Theatre), and working there trained him to be a professional even when he paints for himself. "You can't wait for inspiration; you have to do it; you have a deadline."
- He has been working for 30 years in HNK: he made installations and set designs for over 500 titles
- "I don't want to get involved in any trends."
- Art is natural science for him
- He paints landscapes by memory. He doesn't copy it; he calls it filtering. Everything irrelevant stays out, and essential enters.
- "The most persistent win"
- He lives in a way, so when death comes to knock on his door, he can say, "Oh! Good afternoon, let's go!"
