GORGONA

The art group Gorgona existed in Zagreb from 1959 until 1966. Gorgona’s members were artists Marijan Jevšovar, Julije Knifer, Đuro Seder, Josip Vaništa, Ivan Kožarić, Miljenko Horvat, as well as theoreticians Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Radoslav Putar and Matko Meštrović. Gorgona did not have a platform or manifesto, and was not an artistic group in the usual sense. It was based on the idea of spiritual kinship in a much broader sense than could be implied by a defined aesthetic or stylistic platform. For its members it was a territory of spiritual and intellectual freedom. Each of the artists of Gorgona maintained, developed and enjoyed complete creative autonomy. Gorgona advocated unconventional forms of artistic activity. Gorgona’s activity can be divided into three sections: exhibitions in Studio G (1961 to 1963, Schira Salon in Zagreb, Croatia),  the publishing of Gorgona anti-magazine (1961 – 1966, each edition was a distinctive artwork), and the creation of concepts, projects and various forms of artistic communication. Gorgona generated the most important formal and artistic contributions of the time and thus it preceded and influenced subsequent forms of new artistic practice.