Biography
Ivan Kožarić, member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, was born on 10 June 1921 in Petrinja, Croatia. In 1943 he took up studies at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, where he was taught by Frano Kršinić, Vanja Radauš and Antun Augustinčić. He graduated and subsequently completed a master course by professor Augustinčić in 1949. In 1959/60 he spent a brief period in Paris. He was member of the Gorgona group. Starting in 1991, Kožarić served two terms as president of the Croatian Association of Artists. In 1997 he was elected Full Member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Kožarić first exhibited his works in 1953 (Stančić, Vaništa, Ivančić, Michieli, Kožarić) and held his first one-man exhibition in the Zagreb Museum of Arts and Crafts in 1955. His works were presented in around 60 one-man exhibitions and some 200 group and thematic exhibitions. His most notable appearances were at the Alexandria Biennale, the exhibition "La jeune sculpture" in Paris in 1960, the Venice Biennale in 1976, in Sao Paulo in 1979, at the exhibition of Croatian sculpture in Duisburg in 1994, in the Paris Museum of Modern Art in 2002 and at the Kassel Documenta 11 in 2002. His sculptures stand in public spaces across Croatia: "Antipodes" and "A. G. Matoš" in Sisak, "The Grounded Sun", "Bathing - Man in the Shower", "A. G. Matoš", "The Form of Space", "Dynamic Sculpture" and "Takeoff" in Zagreb, and "The Form of Space" in Rovinj. Among the many awards he received, the Josip Račić Prize of 1994 and the Vladimir Nazor Lifework Prize of 1997 should be mentioned. Kožarić is represented in numerous contemporary art collections in Europe and the world as well as in anthologies and reviews of contemporary sculpture. Publications about his work include the monograph "Kožarić" by Želimir Koščević, the catalogue "Atelier Kožarić" by Antun Maračić and Evelina Turković, and "Cheerful Sysiphus - Interviews with Ivan Kožarić" by Ivica Župan. In 2002 director Petar Krelja made a TV documentary about Kožarić entitled "Burnt Sun". The artist lives and works in Zagreb. Address: V. Tenžere 1, telephone: +385 (0)1 6178-149.