Joško Eterović: Secundum minimum

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Modern Art are organizing a comprehensive monographic exhibition celebrating Joško Eterović, one of the most renowned artists of Rijeka and Croatia.

Nearly twenty years since his last exhibition at the MMSU (From a Disrupted Line to Mutations 1970 – 2006), Joško Eterović returns with Secundum minimum, the exhibition that will debut his latest series of paintings, created between 2019 and 2024. Secundum minimum marks Eterović’s return to the aesthetics of minimalism and optical art. However, to provide context within this expansive body of work, along with his recent works, the exhibition features an introductory section showing pieces where he periodically expressed an inclination towards reductionism. The compositions center around the interplay of basic geometric shapes, such as circles and ellipses, and they are dynamized with sophisticated mid-tones of complementary colors. The painting concept emphasizes the influence and legacy of optical art reduced to a minimalist interaction of three elements: color, line and shape. The precision and clarity of Eterović’s new works, grounded in the interaction of color planes, forms and optical interplay, reflect a sustained and authentic artistic curiosity and consistency of an artistic research that has persisted over fifty years, transcending the shifting artistic trends. Amidst the prevalence of digital media in visual culture and the prominence of figurative painting in visual arts, Eterović’s post-minimalist and neo-geometric constellations represent a new momentum and reaffirm the relevance of neo-constructivism in contemporary art and culture.

The exhibition opens on Tuesday, 26 March, at 7 p.m. and will continue until 22 May 22, encompassing all exhibition spaces in the Museum.

The exhibition is funded by the City of Rijeka, Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media, The City of Zagreb’s City Office for Culture, International Relations and Civil Society and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

The exhibition is curated by Branko Franceschi, the NMMU director.

Vizual: Ana Zubić