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Damir Ocko, “Dicta I”,collage, paper and latex cutouts,detail, 2017
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Damir Ocko, “Dicta II”,collage, paper and latex cutouts, 2017
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Damir Ocko, Installation View," The Third Degree", theAgency, London
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Damir Ocko, Installation View," TK", theAgency, London
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Damir Ocko,still from“ TK”, 4k transferred to HD video, sound, 2014
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Damir Ocko
5 May – 30 June 2017
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theAgency gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of works by the Croatian artist Damir Ocko in London. The exhibition will showcase his latest assemblages as well as the major film pieces ‘The Third Degree’ as featured in the Croatian Pavilion of the 2015 Venice Biennale and ‘TK’.
Damir Ocko’s work - simply put - is about humanity. He chooses a literary and philosophical approach, using poetry, musical composition and film as his main media. He also explores text, musical scores and collage in his works on paper, which supplement or pre-empt the aesthetics of his filmic explorations. The most recent assemblages, which he will premier in this exhibition reveal an interest in masquerade and a playful exploration of latex and paper in the lead-up to his new film work DICTA. In this series of works on paper Ocko situates himself between a modernist aesthetic and the graphic sensibility of social media, while concurrent series reveal his experimentation with a more abject sensibility. Words and dictum, play an important role particular in this new cycle of works. The new works represent a departure from his earlier cycles of works.
The earlier films, which are screened as part of this exhibition, speak of humanity being put to the test through trauma, violence and socio-political context as part of the course of history. Transcending any direct commentary or documentation on conflict, Ocko poetically examines body and mind in situations, which cause tension, literally and metaphorically. With his work’s breathtaking beauty, he explores humanity on the edge, physically and mentally, as well as his own gaze with amazing camerawork, music scores and poetic text.
Artist Biography:
Damir Ocko (b. 1977, lives and works in Zagreb) is one of the most prominent Croatian artists of his generation. His videos, films, poetry and works on paper have been exhibited recently in Galerie Heike Sterlow, Frankfurt, Germany, curated by Adela Demetja, Fondazione Zimei, Pescara, Italy, curated by Massimiliano Scuderi in 2016, (IAC), Villeurbanne, France and Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany, curated by Hans D. Christ, Iris Dressler, Paul B. Preciado and Valentín Roma in 2015, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (2014), KM – Künstlerhaus Halle für Kunst & Medien in Graz (2014), Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris (2013), Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2012), Galleria Tiziana Di Caro in Salerno (2012), and Kunsthalle Dusseldorf (2011). He participated in numerous collective exhibitions with institutions such as MUDAM, Luxembourg, FRAC Le Plateau in Paris, Kunsthalle Wien, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb among others. His works are part of many public and private collections around the world.
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