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Canberra Today 11°/15° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Red dots going up on Dan’s exhibition of ‘almost-miniatures’

THE ‘red dots’ are going up fast on a show at Canberra Contemporary Art Space Civic by one of our most versatile artists, Dan Vukovljak.

"Moon Parade," 10x10, drypoint print on hahnemuhle paper
“Moon Parade,” 10×10, drypoint print on hahnemuhle paper

This time Vukovljak is exhibiting a selection of almost-miniature prints that play with ideas about art, society, and scientific/geometrical constructs.

Some of the tiny prints in limited editions of 2, 3, 4 & 5, are framed in cardboard, some are unframed, and without for a moment putting down the importance of his art practice — for these are delicate and highly skilled works — it is fair to say that any one of them would make the perfect seasonal gift.

"Net Man after Da Vinci," 10x10, drypoint print on hahnemuhle paper
“Net Man after Da Vinci,” 10×10, drypoint print on hahnemuhle paper

Vukovljak is not about to take himself too seriously, exhibiting a light touch in the very title of his show, which he explains as follows:

“The traveller, conscious thought, doesn’t truly understand why it feels compelled to continually move. So it shrugs, and continues on its merry way.”

He can be seen to differ from many other Canberra artists, who develop a ‘line’ of art works and stick to them, in that he divides his time between painting, making drawing machines, traditional and 3D animation, working on comic books, printmaking, collage, and interactive video art.

This versatility, born, he says, when his mum gave him a Spiderman comic, has also seen him produced exquisite small sculptures in cardboard, while continuing his wider art practice.

"Goss," collograph and drypoint on cold pressed paper
“Goss,” collograph and drypoint on cold pressed paper

Vukovljak says his work follows several lines of inquiry “seeking a playful conversion of rational or irrational thought into form”.

You can spot his art history reading with his take on Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian man, some contemporary social commentary in “Goss” and “Moon Parade”.

"Gamma trip", 10x10, drypoint print on hahnemuhle paper
“Gamma trip”, 10×10, drypoint print on hahnemuhle paper

A more intellectual playfulness is seen in in several works referential to Vukovljak’s own scientific training, which preceded his train as an artist.

He explains the process thus: “The inquiries, performed like mini experiments, generally take the shape of ‘what happens when I take A and perform B…’ and, ‘what if I combine it with C?’”

“The Traveller Shrugged,” by Daniel Vukovljak, at CCAS CITY in Canberra City Framing, cnr London Circuit, Hobart Place Civic, until January 9.

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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