Vedran Kopljar

C A S S T L Presents Vedran Kopljar: THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING New Teachings

Vedran Kopljar (°1991, Slavonski Brod, Croatia), lives and works in Antwerp. In his painting and performance practice, Kopljar is driven by his interest in language, communication and perception. He explores the boundaries of conventions within the art world and overturns ingrained thought patterns, challenging the viewer to take new positions. What fascinates Kopljar is the desire to exchange experiences and feelings. The vicious circle of miscommunication and confusion that emerges from these experiences, urge the artist to research the cultivation of embodied meaning. In 2019 he founded the “Plank Communication Center”, a speculative institution housed in museum M Leuven, since 2021.

He has participated in various solo and group exhibitions in i.a. S.M.A.K. (Ghent), M HKA, (Antwerp), Artwell Residency (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Roger Raveelmuseum (Veurne), CONVENT (Ghent), De Brakke Grond (Amsterdam), Kunsthal Extra City (Antwerp), LLS 387 (Antwerp).

For his exhibition at CASSTL Vedran Kopljar presents a series of New Teachings. These works are a meditation on images and signs that appear to signify something but in which the signified seems muddled, unclear or not to be found. The images and signs that are used have been sourced from collected material, the artist’s drawings or were made at the moment of painting. These works can be seen as an inquiry into the role of unknowing and framing in the cultivation of meaning; whereby painting functions as a didactic model edifying the experience of unknowing. These teachings are a practice of chasing unknowing, fundamented by not reading “The Cloud of Unknowing”.

Excerpt from “The Cloud of Unknowing”:

“I CHARGE and beg you, with all the strength and power
that love can bring to bear, that whoever you may be who
possess this book (perhaps you own it, or are keeping it,
carrying it, or borrowing it) you should, quite freely and of
set purpose, neither read, write, or mention it to anyone,
nor allow it to be read, written, or mentioned by anyone
unless…”*

Vedran Kopljar decided to stop reading at this point for the sake of unknowing.

*The Cloud Of Unkowing. Translated by Clifton Wolters. London: Penguin, 1961, 43.

Open during Antwerp Art Weekend

Artists: Vedran Kopljar