“Let’s take a monochrome for example. Its rule is to expand like a polystyrene foam. It coversthe canvas from edge to edge. After the appearance of each new monochrome less and less space remains for those which aresupervening successively. Each following monochrome ahouldcontain more and more content and reasons for its origin, not loosing its character, of course. If we direct a monochrome, a painting in the colour, as Yves Klein has directed it toward thesky, toward ourselves, we shall gain a monochrome of our own hair, eyes, skin, perhaps even a voice colour, if monochromous.”1
Occured as an expression of a necessity for releasing the painting from any other admixtures beyond the painter’s opinion itself, from any idea or significance functioning not as a pure painting, the monochromehas embodied a naked visual sensitivity. All the above was anticipated by Maljevic as late as at the beginning of thiscentury longing for a “pure action” and an”absolute Pointlessness” as for final goals of Suprematism. 2 The American hard-edge painters in the fifties and sixties (for example Ad Reinhardt and Barnett Newman) pick out anautonomous colour to the uttermost as a sole meidum of the painter’s speech, being merely self-sufficient. The painting is just a visual art, an object to which should not be explained but only experienced, something which should be felt.
However, this is today at the end of the 20th century already a long ago adopted fact, an achievement, which is senseless to be emphasized much less to be repeated. If this is were a relevant painting event of an idea, a basis of art conception, an additional reason of emerging.
Although we have caught glimpsesof a monolithic construction of painting in his previous cycle, in his “Zvukovi” (“Sounds”), at first sight it is very unusual that Roncevic, who is an exceptional colourist, has self-restricted himself on such a minimalistic action as a “one-colour painting” is (as he himself points out). However, this occurrence should be observed in acontext of a more and more emphasized analytical component within Igor’s painting throughout the last few years. His cycles are grouped around the themes such as for example a relation between background and sign in “Trag ruke” (Track of a hand), blending of two painter’s coats of different characters -colouristic composing and automatism, construction and destruction in “Zvukovi” (Sounds) or linking the”incompatible” painter’s textures in”Strahovi” (Fears). Aware of the fact that painting is not a predominant artistic medium any more, Roncevic introduces here with, but not giving up painting, a conceptual element as asolee possibility of his survival. Thus, on this occasion as well he is researching the possibilities and limitations of painting within one previously imposed and clearly conceived painting problem. This time this is one nearly forgotten characteristic of a painter’s medium – his mimetic capability. Roncevic sets an apparently unfeasible assignement. He, namely, intends, by extremely reduced means, one colour painted on the canvas in widelines of a palette knife, to conceive something complicated as itwere his self-portrait of some kind.
Focusing on and enlarging individual parts of his own body, Roncevic tries to catch a more precise tint of his eyes, hair, complexion. The result has been each time different in three attempts, the monochrome tints differ mutually. The eye colour is one bluer, the other time more greenish, then the greyish prevails. Hair, skin, eyes, are changing continuously, a real image of man becomes an illusion.There exists only a range of instantaneous images, by means of which it is possible hardly to nearly conjure up a complete image.
However, such a result does not speak about the limitation of painter’s medium, but about an elusion of man, his changeability which is hard to imitate, evenin such tiny details, as well as about the fruitlessness of such endeavours. This is the reason why Roncevic, when speaking about these monochromes, emphasizes that just attempts are in question. In spite of this, he has succeeded to show that by an”axiomatics of the simple, complex things may besolved” as he has mentioned explaining the aim of this exhibition.
And for all that, balancing between simplicity and complexity, mimetics and abstraction, seriousness and a hedonistic frisking with colour, he remains true to himself achieving, thus, works of a subtle colourism and relations of colour shades originating from ranging individual monochromes.
EvelinaTurkovic
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1/ a fragment from a still not published text of Igor Roncevic dealing with painter’shandwriting
2/ Kazimir Maljevic, Suprematism -Pointlessness, publ. in “SIC” Workshop, Belgrade, 1980
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Igor Rončević
Born in Zadar 1951. He graduaated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Šime Peric. He collaborated with Master’s Workshop of Prof. Ljubo Ivancic and Prof. Nikola Reiser from 1979. to 1981. As scholarship holder he spent a year (1981/1982) at the Paris Académie des Beaux Arts, with Professor Lagrange.
