Lana Stojicevic is the winner of the 11^th Erste Fragments

Zagreb, 21 May 2015 – Photographs “Black Hill (1)“ and “Black Hill (2)” by Lana Stojicevic were named the best works at this year’s 11^th Erste Fragments competition, selected by a panel of experts among 16 artworks purchased from a total of 205 works which were submitted to this year’s contest. In addition to the Grand Prix cash prize of HRK 10,000, Erste Bank will stage a solo exhibition at the Kranjcar Gallery. Borna Ban was awarded a special Audience Choice Award with a cash prize of HRK 1,000, while Maja Orlovcic, a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, was awarded with a scholarship in the amount of HRK 1,000 per month. Erste Fragments is a traditional project with which Erste Bank, by purchasing artworks and awarding scholarships, provides financial support to young artists and aims to present works to a wider public.

Works by 14 artists were selected from more than two hundred submissions by young authors, which is the largest number of entries in all the 11 editions of the competition. The works were selected by an expert panel consisting of the head of the Matica hrvatska Gallery Vanja Babic, dean of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb Aleksandar Battista Ilic, Jutarnji list art critic Patricia Kis, Academy painter Sebastijan Dracic, whose work as a young artist Erste Bank purchased in 2008, curator and art manager Vanja Zanko and manager of Erste Bank’s urban culture platform Urbanka Antonia Juric. The exhibition will be staged at the Kranjcar Gallery, Kaptol 26, from 23 May to 26 May 2015.

Vanja Babic, the Chairman of the Panel, said: “More than two hundred authors have submitted their works for Erste Fragments 11, which is a record number of submissions to-date. Great interest of young artist to have their works purchased and exhibited is not at all surprising. Nowadays, perhaps more than ever, young artists are much in need of promotion and financial support, and Erste Fragments project offers both. The public will be able to see their works at an expertly organised exhibition, but also in the future, in some of the bank’s business premises. On the other hand, these premises gain certain humanistic and creative features which will surely make the stay at the bank more pleasant and interesting for the bank’s clients and the staff.”

The winner of 11^th Erste Fragments Lana Stojicevic said: “I am mostly interested in layered, contemporary social topics, which are often local in character, but they also enable me to interpret broader symptoms of the time which transcend borders. In every new project I strive for a completeness and supplementation of themes, motifs, media, approaches and theory, without disregarding any of these factors. In my “Black Hill” project, I explored the contemporary treatment of the village, more specifically the impact the artificial and dangerous post-industrial landscape has on a village in the Ravni kotari region and its residents. Erste Fragments is one of the rare initiatives which purchases the work of young artists, in addition to providing them with professional validation and the prestige of participating in a relevant exhibition.”

After more than a decade, the Erste Fragments project has proven itself as an important event which regularly follows and presents the up-and-coming artist scene in Croatia. For many authors who are now established, this project was often the first real presentation of their work to a wider public. The orientation towards young artists can be risky, but previous editions of Fragments have shown a high degree of selection quality, but also an instinct for recognising existing and future artists of quality. The hardest thing for any young author is making those first steps, the first exhibitions, and getting recognized by professionals and the public. At the beginning of my career, it was extremely important for me to participate in the Fragments project which provides exhibition opportunities, the purchase of works and awards from the panel. In addition to being an opportunity to exhibit one’s works, there is also the purchase of artworks, very important to any young author, and the Grand Prix which singles out the best works from each year’s selection. I am especially pleased that I can be a member of the panel because I myself participated in the Fragments and was given an opportunity to present my work at this important exhibition,” said Sebastijan Dracic, a member of this year’s expert panel.

About the Erste Fragments 11 competition

By purchasing works of art, Erste Bank strives to help young artists, still unknown wider circles, in their work and education, and to give them an opportunity to present their works to a wider audience. The Erste Fragment contest began in 2002 and in the previous ten editions some 140 works by young Croatian fine artists were purchased, currently exhibited at more than 130 Erste Bank locations (branches and offices) in Croatia. The authors of many of the purchased artworks, like Tanja Deman, Sebastijan Dracic, Ivan Fijolic, Alem Korkut, Ines Matijevic Cakic, Lala Rascic, Zlatan Vehabovic, Matko Vekic and many others, have since become established and respected names on the Croatian art scene.

The exhibition will be open on Saturday, 23 May 2015 at the Kranjcar Gallery in Zagreb, Kaptol 26, at 18:00.

You are cordially invited to join us at the opening and see the exhibition.