Ivan Grubanov: I hate you

The Salon of the Belgrade City Museum is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Ivan Grubanov titled I Hate You. The exhibition, curated by Daniele Capra and supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrade, consists of around forty new works of process-based painting. I Hate You offers a selection of the artist’s latest research through five series of works—ranging from embroidered paintings of national mottos, hybrid polyptychs, expanded three-dimensional paintings, metamorphosed flags and a video—all united by the symbolic and conceptual use of the flag.

Grubanov’s practice stems from a critical reflection on the processes of creating collective identity and nationalisms through the incessant manipulative narration of events. In particular, Grubanov problematizes the very idea underlying nationalism—an uncritical overlap of ethnic, spiritual, cultural, and political aspects. The artist employs the flag in a dual manner, both as the physical support of the pictorial material and as a tool for distributing oil colours. In many of his paintings, Grubanov uses the flags of the former Yugoslavia, bearing witness to the trauma of the dissolution of the state—experienced first-hand, as lyrically portrayed in the video Monster—after 30 years, the war is no more, but the experience and the stigma remain. Similarly, he uses national mottos, which are embroidered and painted, losing their vision that holds citizens together to become violent proclamations, declarations of extreme and ethnic belonging. Flags and mottos thus cease to be elements that unite communities under a common vision but become instruments of conflict and unexpected declarations of war against those perceived as different. With his canvas paintings and large installations, Grubanov researches the geopolitical and economic circumstances of the present and reveals the incompleteness and inauthenticity of today’s grand narratives.

Ivan Grubanov has established his international career through numerous solo, group and biennial exhibitions worldwide, as well as artistic and scholarly awards. His solo shows include MOCA Belgrade, MUSAC in Leon, Le Grand Cafe Centre d’Art Contemporain in St Nazaire, Belgrade Cultural Center, Stroom Center for Contemporary Art The Hague, Ron Mandos Amsterdam, Loock Berlin. Participations in group shows include the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, EMST in Athens, Witte de With in Rotterdam, Kiasma in Helsinki, the 3rd International Festival of Contemporary Art of Algiers, the 10th Istanbul Biennial, the 1st Thessaloniki Biennial, Stedelijk Museum CS, SMART Project Space and De Appel in Amsterdam, the Drawing Center and Apex Art in New York, City Gallery in Prague, the Belgrade October Salon, the 3rd Bucharest Biennial of Young Artists, Moderna Galerija in Ljubljana, the 3rd Tirana Biennial, the 3rd Biennial of Quebec, Kunsthalle Bern, Office Baroque and Extra City Kunsthal in Antwerp, Aeroplastics in Brussels, South London Gallery, ARCOS Museum in Benevento, Museum De Beyerd in Breda, Henie Onstad Art Center in Oslo, Museu Colecção Berardo in Lisbon, Iaspis in Stockholm.

Curated by Daniele Capra.