At the University Gallery in Split, the exhibition “Painting and the Possibilities of the Image: Generation 2025” opened on Thursday, 2 April at 7:00 PM, presenting diploma works by students of the Painting Department of the Arts Academy in Split who graduated in 2025.
The exhibition remained open until 17 April, on weekdays from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It reflected the artists’ awareness of the wide range of creative possibilities emerging from today’s expanded understanding of the image. Contemporary painting was approached not only as a traditional painted surface, but as a broader field of visual representation, including conceptual and language-based dimensions.
The exhibited works shared a common interest in exploring space—whether physical, mental, institutional, or social—through diverse media and artistic approaches.
Among the featured works, Tihana Felić’s First Line of Defence (2025) addressed children’s perception of peer violence through a participatory project in the form of a colouring book. Marta Grubišić’s Diploma Work (2025) examined discipline and institutional frameworks through the manual rewriting of her thesis. Neli Ljubičić’s Neon (2026), a three-channel video installation created with drag performers, explored themes of gender identity and performativity. Leda Marinović’s series Question, Silence, Beginning (2025) reflected on existential choices through transformed photographic motifs, while Kim Mikasović’s works investigated archival material related to Split’s historical hospital. Bartol Stojanović’s cycle Structure and Rhythm (2026) translated architectural forms into visual compositions inspired by musical structure.
The artists—Tihana Felić, Marta Grubišić, Neli Ljubičić, Leda Marinović, Kim Mikasović, and Bartol Stojanović—graduated under the mentorship of Professor Neli Ružić, with additional mentors and theoretical guidance by Kristina Restović, Anita Miloš Tomaić, and Blaženka Perica.
The exhibition was supported by the City of Split and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.
