BEHIND THE SKY

D Contemporary in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia cordially invites you to the opening of our exhibition 'Behind The Sky: A Tribute to Missing Persons from the Croatian Homeland War ' a solo show by Gordana Špoljar Andrašić honouring the memory of victims and missing persons from the Croatian Homeland War (1991–1995). 
Through a poignant combination of portraits, fragile materials, and symbolic textures, the works reflect on the tragedy of war, the unresolved fates of the missing, and the enduring pain of their families.

The artist’s approach highlights loss and memory: portraits of the missing are veiled with white tempera, their identities protected yet preserved in collective remembrance. Silk paper and graphite texts evoke the fragility of memory, with images fading like fleeting thoughts. The materials – photographs, cellulose, and transparent installations – speak to the deconstruction and transience of both matter and memory, creating a profound narrative of impermanence.
Special attention is given to depictions of children, symbolizing innocence disrupted by war. Abstract elements, like spirals and voids, represent disorientation, while gold accents hint at fragments of memory amid immense loss. Installations featuring transparent tubes and acrylic glass further symbolize the uncertainty surrounding the missing, presenting a visual metaphor for the void they leave behind.

This exhibition is a tribute not only to the victims but also to the resilience of survivors, emphasizing the importance of collective memory in understanding and honoring Croatia’s modern history.

 

Gordana Špoljar Andrašić is an independent artist from Croatia, a graduated art historian and ethnologist. She is a member of the Croatian Freelance Artists' Association (HZSU), the Croatian Association of Visual Artists (HDLU) in Zagreb, and Atelieri Koprivnica (AK). She has organized more than sixty solo exhibitions (Croatia: Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Križevci, Velika Gorica, Koprivnica, Varaždin, Prelog, Čakovec, Đurđevac, Ludbreg, Bjelovar, Sv. Ivan Zelina, Rijeka, Zadar, Sutivan na Braču, Crikvenica, Poreč, Rovinj, Bale/ France: Kaysersberg, Turcheim/ Serbia: Sombor/ Montenegro: Nikšić/ Slovenia: Maribor/ USA: San Francisco, Palo Alto/ Austria: Graz, St. Georgen am Längsee, Klagenfurt) and has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in Croatia and abroad (Croatia: Zagreb, Samobor, Koprivnica, Varaždin, Đurđevac, Križevci, Čakovec, Ludbreg, Karlovac, Bjelovar, Slavonski Brod, Osijek, Vinkovci, Rijeka, Dubrovnik, Pula, Labin, Rovinj, Buje, Bale/ Bulgaria: Ruse/ Germany: Stadthagen/ Canada: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary). With each new cycle, the artist makes meaningful shifts towards various combinations of painting, collage, photography, installation, and environments.

The art monograph from the cycle "Trees" by Draženka Jalšić Ernečić was published in 2003. The art book "Memorabilia" (2017) by Iva Körbler focuses on works dealing with the theme of memory. "Welcome to my mind" (2022) is the title of a booklet that compiles 365 picture-poems that the artist created daily during the pandemic, with Tanja Špoljar as the author of the text. The art booklet "Fragment of Memory II" (2023) presents a retrospective overview of the artist's work through three cycles – "Memorabilia," "Lost in Time" and "Dark Matter" – exhibited at the Prsten Gallery in the Meštrović Pavilion/HDLU in Zagreb, written by Iva Körbler.

​