With their vibrant colors, playful motifs, and rich transparent coatings, the paintings of Zoran Šimunović are at a crossroads of abstraction and figuration. They take us into the worlds of symbols, memories, and feelings, and by painting lush vegetation, fruit, the animal world, and toys, the painter wants to evoke positive emotions and optimism. He finds motifs for his narrative compositions in the spaces in which he lives and creates, in small things that seem banal but that are important to him. They suggest mysterious and symbolic interrelationships that need to be deciphered. They seem to almost float, concentrating in the center of the composition, allowing the colors to completely occupy the edges of the canvas. Visible layers of paint create transparency and vibrancy, revealing the process of creating the painting. In addition to large-format oil paintings, he also exhibits paintings conceived as light objects, creating narrative scenes by using computer tools.

Zoran Šimunović (Nuštar, 1984) is a Croatian artist who lives and works in Osijek. As the son of a farmer, he grew up on a large farm, working the fields with his family. His love of art and painting prompted him to interrupt his studies at the Faculty of Agriculture and enroll in the Academy of Fine Arts in Široki Brijeg in 2008. He graduated under Professor Antun Boris Švaljek in 2013. He then became the curator of the Vukovar City Museum, for which he developed a diverse cultural program aimed at the young audience, and since 2023, he has been the head of the Slavko Kopač Gallery at the Vinkovci City Museum. At the same time, he set up a studio in the attic of his house in Osijek, dedicating his energy and free time to painting. Driven by his passion and love of art, he follows a personal path in the development of his visual artistic expression. Remaining unaffected by trends and other people’s expectations, he has been visibly recognized by the audience. Stimulated by art, today, he combines his work as a curator with his vocation of artist, achieving success both locally and abroad, and classifying himself as a self-effacing and successfully positioned artist in the market. Working at a museum allows him to have a broader perspective of art. The artist testifies about the intertwining roles of artist and curator, “My work as a curator at the Slavko Kopač Gallery of the Vinkovci City Museum is the most beautiful work in the world. I collaborate with many artists, institutions, museums, embassies, and this has helped me a lot. I would like to admit that this work has influenced the development of my artistic career.” An artist and a museum need each other, and Zoran Šimunović achieves a perfect synthesis of both.

With his critically acclaimed works and exhibitions, Zoran Šimunović is today one of the most sought-after contemporary Croatian artists. He has had 27 solo exhibitions and a large number of group exhibitions in galleries and museums in Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, and Hungary. His works are in the public collections of seven Croatian museums, as well as in private collections in Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria.

With co-director Svetislav Cvetković, in 2012, he won the Sony Award for their short film The Book. He was the only visual artist selected by the prestigious American design magazine Regard Magazine for his feature Croatia Full of Life in 2019, and his artistic work was presented in Geo France.

He says about his work, “When I paint, I paint only positive things, things that make me happy. I am surrounded by optimists, and my paintings reflect that positive energy.” Creation, he says, is his greatest blessing.

Organization: Croatian Museum of Tourism, Opatija
Exhibition Curator: Nataša Ivančević
Design of Exhibition Display: Zoran Šimunović, Nataša Ivančević
Collaboration: Festival Opatija
Collaborator: Vesna Leiner
Tehnical Set-up: Željko Turković
Media Promotion: Ivan Modrić
Graphic Design and Preparation of Poster, Invitation, and Folded Leaflet: Wanda Design
English Translation: Branka Svetlin
Proofreading: Dijana Stanić-Rešicki

The exhibition was funded by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Opatija.

Opening hours: 3 p.m.–7 p.m.
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