Josip Zanki – Biography
Josip Zanki was born in Zadar on 14th March 1969. He grew up in the village of Privlaka, north west of Zadar, in a family of fishermen and farmers. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1994 (class of Professor Miroslav Sutej) with a thesis entitled „Mysticism in the Artistic Practice of J. Beuys“ and an experimental series of etchings „New Machines“, a remake of the research conducted by the renaissance scientist Faust Vrancic. Since 1986 he has been working on installations, performances, experimental film and video and in the research into graphic media. He received numerous prizes for his work. His involvement in archaeology has resulted in a collection of 200 prehistoric and mediaeval objects relating to mystical and occult religious practices. He is also interested in the phenomena of the Velebit mountain range; Mirila, valleys, enchanted forests and the existence and the influence of elemental beings on the myth and the reality of this region..
He has realised numerous individual and collective exhibitions with other artists in Croatia and abroad. Since decembar 2007 he is president of Croatian aassociation of artist He works in Zagreb.
Major group exhibition:
1991-Guernica croatica- Arengario, Milano, Italy
1993 – Mediteraneen Youth Biennial – Modern Gallery, Rijeka
1993, 1995, 1998,2001 – Zagreb salon – MGC, Zagreb Gallery, Modern Gallery, House of the Croatian association of artist , Zagreb
1995 – Trace di grafica Croata- Galleria d arte contemporanea, Torre Pellice, Italy
1996 – New concept- Kula Lotršćak, Zagreb
1996, 1998– Youth salon – House of the Croatian association of artist , Zagreb
1997,2001,2003,2006,2008 – Graphics Triennal – Modern gallery, House of the Croatian association of artist , Gliptoteka HAZU,Zagreb
2001 – Mutamenti/inganni – Scardavilla – Forli, Italy
2002 -Calendar, Studio Tomasseo, Trieste, Italy
2002 -Digging the channel-Mobius centar for experimental art, Boston, USA
2004 -Pilot 04-Museum of contemporary art, Zagreb
2004- Erben-eroberen-Inovation park, Graz, Austria
2005- Contemporary Croatian drawing, Aman, Kairo, Hong Kong, Ljubljana, Wiena….
2006 – Wegstrecken: Standpunkte-Arten des Bewegens, St. Lambrecht, Austria
2007 –- Contemporary Croatian art – Lighthouse gallery, Jaffa , Israel
2008- Bienale of ilustration – Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb
2008- Contemporary Croatian art, Rabat, Maroco
Major individual exhibition
1998 – Gradec Galery- Zagreb
1998 – Museum of eastern and western art – Odessa, Ukrayne
1999 – Galerija 36 – Kiev, Ukrayne
2000 – Enciklopedija mrtvih (with Bojan Gagić) – Gallery «Miroslav Kraljević» – Zagreb
2001 –Manulera (with Bojan Gagić) Ludiialydis, Milano, Italy
2001- Mirila (performance with Bojan Gagić), Galeria Neon, Bologna -Studio Tomasseo, Trst, Italy
2002- Mirila, Museum Mimara, Zagreb
2002 – Institut Sztuki, Krakow, Poland
2003- Studio Tomasseo, Trst, Italy
2004- Galerie sur Cour, Paris, France
2004, 2006, 2007- Violin factory, London, UK
2007- Chopor horda, Pečuh, Hungary
2008 – Kosača Gallery, Mostar, BIH