Zagreb-born Lonac is a recognised name on the art scene of his hometown. Since 2013, he has been a member of the P_3 platform, and since 2016 a member of HDLU. But Lonac's work is known far from the boundaries of his immediate locale. Best known for the huge murals he paints on the side of buildings, his grandiose paintings and the characters he depicts in them (usually based on people he knows) can be seen on walls in Grenoble, France, New York and Nanxian in China.
But in his new exhibition, opening at 7pm in the Zilik Gallery, Karlovac on Thursday 13 September, we see a wholly different side to the artist. His recently completed 'Summer In The City' project is a series of line drawings.
The drawings he has submitted for the exhibition depict snapshots of the lives of people in his hometown, observed by the artist over the course of this summer. As usual, this summer in Zagreb was marked for its heat, its loss of pace compared to other times of year and the absence of many residents who escape the scorched concrete and head for the coast. It was also marked by Croatia's participation and success in the World Cup. Lonac manages to document the essence of summer 2018 in this series.
While other people were swimming in the Adriatic, Lonac remained in Zagreb for much of the summer, coursing around his city on a bicycle and taking photographs. The line drawings were produced in his home studio, based on the photographs he took and the city scenes he saw.
The drawings stand in strong contrast to the mural work he is best known for; all of the subjects depicted in 'Summer In The City' are strangers to Lonac. No-one posed for these drawings, most were captured on camera surreptitiously. Also, compared to the rich backdrops he usually provides in his murals, within this line drawing series he completely dispenses with such detail, concentrating instead solely on the figures he has drawn.
The exhibition runs until Thursday 27 September.